


The Pigeon Murders

by dont_hate_me01



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: Big Bang Challenge, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Explicit Sexual Content, Language, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-10-26 02:56:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20735105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: A hit and run case, a man poisoned, another's head bashed in, only have one thing in common - a headless pigeon. Tony investigates and stumbles across a serial killer on the loose for more than ten years. Receiving no help from Gibbs, he gets help from the BAU in identifying and apprehending the killer. Sounds easy? But it never is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **AN 1:** The story takes place before season 1 of NCIS and the timeline for Criminal Minds has been moved up. Gibbs is not portrayed in a good light at the beginning of this story, but he does redeem himself. Some Abby bashing.
> 
> **AN 2:** To the wonderful, [penumbria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria) who provided the lovely pieces of art, I can’t thank you enough. It was once again an honor to work with you. Please go and show some love for the art over [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008654)
> 
> **AN 3:** To our Mod, **Solariana** over on **LJ**, thank you again for hosting this challenge! You always make it so easy to take part. :-)
> 
> **AN 4:** Beta work once again done by the ever amazing, [jesco0307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesco0307). Thank you, not only for all of the hard work you put into this story, but for your amazing friendship as well!

**Chapter 1**

**March 2003**

“Grab your gear,” Gibbs called over his shoulder as he headed towards the elevator. Not once did he look back to see if his teammate followed.

Tony was up on his feet and bag swung over his shoulder, even before Gibbs could stop talking. He had managed to clip his Glock to his side in the run. He met up with Gibbs as the elevator pinged on the floor.

“What do we have?” Tony pressed the basement button.

“Dead Navy corpsman. Found in Rock Creek Park,” Gibbs replied as they exited the elevator and made their way over to their sedan.

Tony nodded as he got into the passenger side at the same time as Gibbs slipped in behind the wheel. He didn’t even blink as Gibbs pulled out at his typical neck breaking speed. The normal fifteen-minute drive was completed in eight.

When they got out, Tony scrunched up his eyes and reached for his sunglasses. The glare of the sun was something to take note of.

“Late night, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked as he saw the younger man donning the dark glasses.

“Late, yes.” Tony shook his head when he saw Gibbs’ frown. “No drinking, and no sexy times, Boss. Met with an old friend and stayed up way too late over coffee and biscotti.”

Gibbs nodded. He’d seen DiNozzo hungover before, and he had to agree, his junior partner looked tired, but that was it. Gibbs grunted. “Photos and sketches. I’ll do the talking.”

“Roger that.” Tony yawned as he swung the camera over his head and headed over to the cordoned off area. He smiled when he saw Gerald already on scene. “Let me guess, you got to drive?” Tony grinned as he knelt next to the man. He really liked Gerald. The medical examiner’s assistant was one of the first people who made him feel welcome at NCIS when he started working at the agency just over a year ago. They’d become great friends.

Gerald turned and smiled. “Doctor Mallard was engaged in a call and since we all know he doesn’t use his phone while he’s driving, I got us here in time, but more importantly, in one piece.”

Tony chuckled, but became serious and shook his head. “What do we have?”

Gerald sighed. “Twenty-four-year-old Navy corpsman, Tom Bradshaw. From what we can tell, cause of death seems to be manual strangulation. But…”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, I know. You’ll only able to give us a definite cause of death after the autopsy had been completed.” Tony got to his feet. “Let me get back to my work.” He nodded to Gerald and started taking photos of the body and the surrounding area.

Tony looked around for any signs left behind by a possible suspect, as well as signs of a struggle and anything else that didn’t belong in the environment they found themselves in. He found a nice shoe print, which he photographed, but by the tread pattern on the sole he had a feeling that it wouldn’t bring them closer to their killer.

The only thing that he did find that was strange, but which did fit into the environment, was a dead pigeon. A headless dead pigeon, to be exact. It looked like a rock pigeon, but other than that, there wasn’t much Tony could say about birds. Tony shrugged and took photos of the bird. For a moment he wondered if he should call Ducky over for this victim, but then he rubbed the back of his head. He wasn’t in the mood for one of Gibbs’ slaps. His senior partner had started slapping him on the back of the head and even though Tony had thought of it as being funny in the beginning, now it was starting to piss him off.

Tony pushed the negative thoughts down and shoved the camera back into its casing before he took out his pencils and sketch pad. He loved doing the sketches of the scene. He knew he had a great eye for detail and had the ability to accurately estimate distance. Tony took a few steps back and started sketching what he saw. He always did a general sketch of the area, sometimes it looked more like a landscape scene than a real crime scene, but he couldn’t stop himself. The sketches of the area surrounding the body itself were more crime like, and always contained all the necessary distances and other pertinent details they required. For one or another reason he even indicated where he found the dead pigeon in relation to their dead corpsman’s body.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Back in the bullpen Tony started working the case. He gathered all of the personal, as well as the financial records of their dead corpsman and looked for anything that might point them in the direction of a possible killer. When he found nothing, Tony did a search on the different social media platforms, but the only thing he learned extra was that Bradshaw played the saxophone. He found a few clips posted by friends and from what he heard, it seemed that their dead sailor played pretty well.

By the end of the day, they had made zero progress and Tony was dejected. It had been a while since they had nothing to show on a case at the end of a working day. Gibbs’ mood had darkened, and Tony’s head ached from the various slaps he received at the lack of their progress made.

At 2100 Tony had enough. He slowly packed up his stuff and switched off the light on his desk. Gibbs had left over an hour ago and Tony had been happy to see the back of him. His hand found the back of his head and he gently rubbed the sore spot.

“You should tell him to stop.”

Tony nearly jumped as the voice spoke up behind him. He turned and smiled. “It’s nothing.”

Gerald shook his head. “It’s not nothing, Tony. Agent Gibbs has no right to slap you like that. It is assault, and assault of a federal agent at that.”

Tony snorted. “And who do you think is going to dare and arrest Gibbs for that?” He shrugged. “I know I have to talk to him, but things had become so crazy, there was no time.”

“No.” Gerald placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Do not make excuses, Tony. That is not right and it’s definitely not fair towards you, or Gibbs for that fact.”

Tony knew Gerald was right. “I will speak to him tomorrow morning.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Tony grinned.

“Okay.” Gerald gazed at his watch. “I think both of us have worked long enough, let’s get out of here.”

“Agreed.” Tony grabbed his bag and the two friends headed to the elevator.

“How was dinner with Penelope last night?” Gerald inquired as they waited.

Tony smiled again. “So good. I can’t believe that it’s been almost four months since we last saw one another. But, I understand, the BAU is even busier than us.” Tony glanced up at Gerald. “I’m sorry you missed out. Penelope would’ve loved seeing you as well.”

Gerald laughed. “Until I’m done with my exams, I’m not going out. Not even for Penelope, and you know how much I like that woman.”

It was Tony’s turn to laugh. “What’s not to love about her?” He continued to smile as he thought of his friend and computer analyst of the FBI. He’d first met Penelope Garcia when he started out as a detective in Baltimore. The killer he was after, turned out to be a serial killer, and with the blessing of his Captain, Tony contacted the BAU and that’s how he met the sparkling Penelope. They’d clicked and now three years later they were best friends. She also helped smooth things over with the head of the BAU at that time, Jason Gideon. The man was a bit of a prick, but Tony had to admit, he was good at his job.

“The BAU still head hunting you?” Gerald grinned when Tony rolled his eyes.

“They don’t want to accept no for an answer.”

“You can’t blame them, Tony. You are one of the best out there. It would be a massive gain for them to have you on their team.”

“I’m not a profiler, Gerald. You know that. I’m an investigator. It’s in my blood.”

“No. Don’t try and bullshit me, Tony. You might be an investigator, but you’re a profiler as well, and you know that. How do you think you manage to solve so many cases? I don’t think anyone here took a proper look at your file, but you became one of the youngest detectives in the police force and what about your record for collaring serial killers? What, five serial killers nabbed by you? The only reason you became an agent was because of Danny. You are great at what you do, but you’re wasting your time here, Tony. Don’t get me wrong, I love working for NCIS and I know you do too. But don’t let your talent go to waste. You know what goes on in the heads of all these crazy bastards. If I was you, I would seriously consider their offer.”

“I’m not ready.” Tony shook his head. Gerald sounded like Penelope. He was grateful when the elevator finally arrived, and they got in. Gerald was right. The only reason why he joined NCIS was because of Danny’s betrayal. He needed a clean break, and what better opportunity than start working at NCIS. He loved working here, and he wanted to stay longer than his normal two years before he moved on again. He ignored Gerald’s comment on wasting his talent. He was still doing what he loved to do – catching bad guys and bringing justice for the victims and their families. But he also knew Gerald was right about one thing. If he wanted this to work, he would have to talk to Gibbs. The head slaps had to stop.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Unfortunately, Tony got no chance to talk to Gibbs the following morning as they got involved in a domestic dispute matter which ended up as a murder-suicide. It took them more than a day to wrap things up. In the meantime, the matter of Corpsman Bradshaw remained open and unsolved.

By the end of the week, they still had no leads. The shoe print, as expected, belonged to an everyday Nike running shoes, even the size was average. The only way to link it to the killer would be to find it in the killer’s home. Gibbs was grumpier than normal and even Ducky stayed out of his way. The only one who still dared to come close enough, was Abby. Tony couldn’t help but to sigh as he thought about Abby.

In the beginning she had struggled to warm up to him. She went as far as to ignore him whenever he was alone in her lab. He had to use all his patience with her, but she had finally stopped her nonsense and now they were friends. Most of the time. Sort of. It was difficult to explain. It gave him a headache to think about it.

Abby was always bubbly, and Tony had no problem with that. He however had a problem with her when she started shoving her nose into his business. This time it was the same. She’d kept on badgering him who he went out with. And it didn’t matter how many times he told her it was a friend; she didn’t stop asking. She even went as far as to demand Gibbs to order Tony to tell her with whom he was. That, in turn, had Gibbs turning on him and in no uncertain terms told him that until the Bradshaw case was closed, he better not be going out on silly dates, getting hungover and not doing his work.

It had made Tony steam with anger and he was about to explode when they got a call and they went off to another crime scene.

Now, a month later they still had no clue on who killed Bradshaw. The body was released to the family, the funeral took place and now Tony stood with the file in his hand, ready to box it. It had become cold. He wasn’t happy with it. Gibbs fumed about it, but there was nothing either of them could do. Tony placed the file in the box, labeled it correctly and personally took it down to records where he booked it in and signed the necessary documents. He’d already made a note in his diary to check the box out in five months’ time to have another look. Until then, they had other cases that needed their attention.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**July 2003**

Mike Balboa kneeled next to the dead Gunnery Sergeant Neil Summers and shook his head. The Gunny’s head was bashed in and by the wounds on his head, he gathered that whatever was used, wasn’t small in size.

He gazed up as his second in command knelt next to him. Phillip Perkins, better known as Phil, had been with him for almost six years and they were good friends. “You do the interviews; I’ll take the photos.” Mike got to his feet.

Phil grinned. “That’s because you don’t want to talk to the blabbering woman.” He looked over his shoulder at the middle-aged woman who stood next to the road. She sobbed hard, even her shoulders shook from the action.

“You’ve got me.” Mike returned the grin. “Let’s call it the prerogative of being team lead.” He slapped his friend on the back and got to his feet. “Besides, you know I do better crime sketches then you.”

Phil shrugged. “True, but you’re nowhere as good as DiNozzo.”

Mike nodded. “Phil, no one is as good as Tony when it comes to crime scene sketches.”

Both men nodded again and went their separate ways.

Mike took particular note of everything in the surrounding area. Nothing leaped out to him as being a possible lead. He still took enough photographs to capture the whole scene and was about to put the camera away when his eye caught something. Mike moved closer. It was a dead pigeon. A common rock pigeon from what he could see as its head was missing. “Poor pigeon.” Mike took his camera and snapped two pictures of the dead bird, packed away the camera and took out his pencil and notebook to sketch the scene. Since the dead bird was in the area of the active crime scene, Mike noted its position, but took no further interest in the bird.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**September 2003**

Tony looked over to where he could spot Mike still working at his desk. “Tough case?” He came to his feet and walked to Mike’s cubicle.

Mike leaned back in his chair. “You can say that again. Just can’t seem to find a suspect. Every lead turned into a dead end. I’ve, we’ve got no idea who’s responsible for blundering Gunnery Sergeant Summers to death.”

“Not the wife?” Tony tried to lighten the mood.

Mike huffed and shook his head. “Not the wife. She was away at a medical conference in Italy. In fact, she was on a plane over the ocean when her husband got killed. We went through their finances with a fine-tooth comb. She definitely didn’t hire someone to kill her husband.”

“You cold casing it?”

“No, not yet.” Mike got to his feet. “Will give it another month to see if we can dig something up.” He gazed at his watch. “Time to go home.” He took a closer look at the younger man. “Gibbs is working you too hard.”

“No, nothing like that.” Tony grinned. “I’ve never been a good sleeper, so this is all on me.” He circled his face with a finger.

“If you say so.” Mike took his jacket and switched off the light on his desk. “Get some sleep, Tony.” He made his way over to the elevators.

“I will. Have a good night,” Tony greeted the senior agent as he walked back to his chair and sat down. He hated the fact that it seemed like Balboa’s case was going to end up as a cold case. It was something he couldn’t get used to.

Tony closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. It was well after ten at night, but in Europe it was already the next morning and he needed to talk to a potential witness in one of their own cases. The man said he would phone him tonight, or this morning, depending on which time zone you took. Whichever one it was, Tony hoped it happened soon.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**November 2003**

“Damn it, DiNozzo, I told you to wait for backup,” Gibbs grumbled as he took his white handkerchief and pressed it not too gently against the gaping wound on Tony’s brow.

“No time, Boss,” Tony grunted, and tried to move his head away from the pressure, but Gibbs’ hand at the back of his head gave him no room to move away. His head ached, his vision was blurry, and it didn’t matter how many times he blinked, it didn’t want to get better. The fact that someone played drums in his head told him he had a concussion. He swallowed hard. It also meant that he felt nauseous. Tony hated having a concussion. It really sucked.

“Boss.” Tony swallowed.

“Stay still, DiNozzo.”

“Sick.” Tony managed to move even as it felt like his head exploded. He had no time to move far as the bile in his throat pushed up and he became physically ill. Tony could hear Gibbs mumbling something behind him, but he didn’t give a damn. Not when his insides tried to get on the outside of his body. Tony had no idea on how long he was ill before he slumped sideways. His whole body ached, the drumming on the inside of his head had increased in volume and the burst of white light he experienced even with his eyes close made him realize that he was going to end up in hospital. For a moment he wondered if he’d be able to sign out AMA when everything went black. He didn’t hear Gibbs frantically calling out his name. Nor did he hear the paramedics who finally arrived on the scene as they tried to get him to wake up.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

It was the monotone beeping in the background that finally got Tony to open his eyes. He immediately regretted the motion as the bright lights assaulted his eyes. He groaned as he shut them again. “Fuck.” His throat was raw, and he swallowed with great difficulty.

“Here.” A voice to his left side, made Tony turn his head and he regretted the action immediately. He grunted out of pain again. Something was pressed against his mouth and the coolness of it made him aware that it was ice chips. He opened his mouth and sighed as the small slivers of ice melted in his mouth and soothed his throat. Tony opened his mouth again and received a second teaspoon full.

“That’s enough for now.” The voice was soft and low pitched.

“Gerald?”

“The one and only.”

“Where?”

“Washington General.”

“How long?”

“Just over a day,” Gerald replied patiently.

“Fuck,” Tony cursed again. “Gibbs is going to kill me.” He finally opened his eyes and swallowed the groan that threatened to escape. The light was dimmed, but it still didn’t mean that his eyes and head accepted it. He pushed himself up on his elbows.

“Where are you going?” Gerald had gotten up from his chair and pushed Tony down gently.

“Need to get to work.”

“No, no you’re not.”

“You can’t stop me.” Tony knew he sounded like a child, but he had to get to work. Gibbs wouldn’t be impressed if he was in bed while they had active cases to run.

“Want to bet?” Gerald pressed Tony firmly down again. “You’ve got a grade three concussion, Tony. You’re going to spend at least another twenty-four hours here for observation and then you’ll be on restricted duty for at least another week. You know that.”

“Over my dead body,” Tony mumbled and tried to get up again.

“That can be arranged, DiNozzo,” Gibbs spoke up from the doorway.

“Boss,” Tony squeaked. He watched as Gibbs entered the room.

“Tony’s under the impression that you’re going to kill him if he doesn’t report to duty immediately.” Gerald couldn’t help to challenge the senior agent.

Gibbs frowned. “I will only kill him if he tries to come to work while not being able to do his job. He’s useless to me if he can’t do what’s expected from him.”

Tony cringed at Gibbs’ words, but managed to keep his face blank.

“Then that’s settled.” Gerald sat down again. He glared at Gibbs.

“Something you wanted to add, Mister Jackson?”

“Gerald,” Tony hissed.

“Yeah, there is.”

“Fuck.” Tony dragged his hand over his face and hissed as his fingers brushed over his swollen brow. By the size of the gauze on his forehead, he had a feeling it took more than a couple of stitches to close it up.

“Gerald,” Tony tried again.

“No. It needs to be said. I’ve given you enough time to do something about it. You haven’t.”

Tony groaned.

Gibbs scowled. “Spit it out.”

“Stop,” Tony tried one more time. Neither man acknowledged him.

“You have to stop slapping Tony at the back of the head.”

“What, he can’t say it himself?” Gibbs responded irritably.

“No, because for one or other reason he thinks you’re going to see him as being weak.” Gerald rose to his feet.

Tony swallowed hard. He felt more than nauseous. He felt downright sick. He closed his eyes as the room started to spin. The headache that might have gone down a notch or two, now roared into a category five hurricane.

Both men had raised their voices. Neither man saw that Tony’s color changed from pale to ghost white. Tony’s eyes grew large and he only had enough time to turn his head before he became ill. Only then did the two men realized what was going on.

Gerald sprang into action and help, while Gibbs scrambled to get a nurse.

Tony’s world disappeared in waves of agony. He felt the pain that wrapped around him and wished it would end. Darkness sailed over him and then he knew nothing more.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

The next time Tony woke up, the room was empty and for that he was grateful. The lighting was dim enough so that the headache he still felt behind his eyes, didn’t race back to drag him down again. He fisted his hands. He was angry, no, scrap that, he was furious, at both men. He could fight his own battles. He didn’t need Gerald to confront Gibbs and he knew Gibbs would now see him as more of a liability.

A light knock at his door made him turn his head. “Come in.”

The door opened and Tony couldn’t help smiling as his best friend peeked around the door. “Hey.” He had to clear his throat as it sounded like a frog got trapped.

“Hey yourself,” Penelope responded with a smile as she entered the hospital room and closed the door behind her. She cringed at her first sight of Tony’s face.

“Is it that bad?” Tony reached out with his hand, but Penelope swatted his hand away.

“No, I hate seeing you injured.” She squeezed his hand. “Oh, before I forget.” She rummaged through her large bag and took out a fluffy looking soft toy. “Here.” She held it out to him.

Tony grinned. “What is it?” He brought the toy closer to his face. It smelled like Penelope, and it made him feel loved. It had patches of white under its eyes, while the rest of the body was a dark brown. Its belly was a light brown. It had a bill like a duck, webbed front feet and a wide flat tail.

“It’s a duck-billed platypus.”

Tony grinned. “Aptly named.” He squeezed the bill.

“They are found in eastern Australia and are very energetic. What is even more interesting, is that even though they are mammals, they lay eggs. Oh, and they are venomous.”

Tony was speechless. He’d heard about platypuses. Just never thought he’d get one of his own. Even if it was only a soft toy. “Thank you.”

Penelope made herself comfortable in the plastic chair. “How are you feeling?”

Tony knew he could joke, but the relationship he had with Penelope was built on trust and total honesty. “Like I was hit by a truck.”

“Gerald told me you have sustained a grade three concussion.”

The mention of Gerald’s name made Tony stiffen up.

“What’s wrong?” Penelope asked concerned.

Tony shook his head.

“No, don’t you shake your head at me, mister.” She pointed her finger at him. “What’s wrong?” she repeated her question.

“Nothing.” Tony closed his eyes.

Penelope sighed out of frustration. “Do I need to arrange for someone to be killed? More specifically Gerald?”

Tony remained quiet. He didn’t want to talk about it. He knew the moment he opened his mouth, he would spill everything and he didn’t want to. Not yet. He still wanted to simmer for a while.

“Anthony Dominic DiNozzo.”

The use of his full names made him open his eyes.

“I will leave it for now, but you better tell me later what’s going on. You hear me?” Penelope got to her feet and gave Tony a hug.

“Thank you.”

She grabbed her bag. “I need to get back to work. The team is on their way back from their last case. I will see you tonight again.”

Tony shook his head. “I know you all go for drinks after a case got finalized. Go and enjoy the time with your team. I’ll be all right.”

“You’re very stubborn, Tony. I will talk to you later.” Penelope gave him another hug and then exited the room, leaving Tony behind.

He waited for another five minutes before he pressed the call button. It was time to get out of here. He hated hospitals.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was the persistent knocking on his door that finally brought him back to the life of the living. For a moment he was confused, and had no idea on what woke him up, but then he heard the pounding again and he groaned. “Coming!” he yelled as he stumbled from the bed and reached for his dressing gown. Tony had no idea what time it was, but he hoped that whoever was at his door had a good reason to try and break it down.

“Hold your horses,” Tony mumbled as the knocking continued. Finally, he reached the door and took a look through the peep hole. “Gerald.” Tony sighed. He’d been ignoring his friend since he’d signed out AMA three days ago. He leaned against the door, took a deep breath and unlocked it. He stepped back.

“I thought you were dead.” Gerald lowered his head.

“After the way you pounded on this door, I wish I was.” Tony rubbed his eyes. “Come on in.” He opened the door wider.

“Why did you sign yourself out of the hospital?”

Tony cocked his head. “I’ve been out of that place for three days and you only realize it now?”

“No.” Gerald took his customary seat on Tony’s couch. “I was giving you time.”

“How kind of you,” Tony replied sarcastically.

“Tony.” Gerald made eye contact with his friend.

“No. No, you had no right to say anything to him. You know how I felt about it, I told you I will handle it myself, but then the first opportunity you get, you decide to go big. Going so far as accusing him of assaulting me.”

“It is assault.” Gerald rose to his feet. “He has no right to do that, Tony. Why can’t you see that?”

“And I will handle it in my own time. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Tony was frustrated.

Gerald raised his hands in an act of surrender. “I didn’t come over here to argue with you. I am sorry. I know I was out of line but seeing you in that bed.” Gerald sighed. “Every concussion a person suffers has the potential of damaging the brain – permanently. I know for a fact that you’ve suffered from a number of them over the years. Seeing how Agent Gibbs keeps on slapping you behind the head not only angers me, but it frightens me. I’m only trying to act in your best interest, Tony.”

Tony lowered himself on the couch. “Thank you.” He rubbed his face with his hands and winced as his fingers brushed over the stitched-up area. “Ouch.” He removed his hands and gazed up at his friend.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but you still had no right.”

Gerald nodded.

Tony sighed and remained quiet. He understood that Gerald acted because he cared. He also knew he had to talk to Gibbs. The three days since he signed out AMA had been quiet in the bullpen as Gibbs was out on a mission for SECNAV himself and he’d seen very little of the senior agent.

With Gibbs not in the office he’d busied himself with a cold case or two. He’d even managed to close one yesterday evening and that’s why he was still at his apartment. Yes, he also knew it was Saturday, but it was very rare not to be in the office even over the weekend.

“What time is it anyway?” He yawned.

“Almost lunch time.”

“Huh, really?” Tony yawned again. It seemed that he’d gotten in about ten hours of solid sleep. It was a record for him.

“That’s the other reason why I’m here. Thought I would get you and we could grab some lunch.” Gerald pushed his hands into his jeans pockets.

Tony cocked his head. “I thought you were not going anywhere until your exams are finished.” He groaned even as he uttered the words. “You’re done. You’re finally fucking done.” Tony grinned from ear to ear as he hugged his friend hard.

“I’m sorry, I totally forgot that you had your finals this past week. How did it go?” Tony laughed. “Why am I asking you, you’ve aced everything, like you always do.” He continued to smile. “Let me grab a shower and get dressed. Lunch is on me. We should call Penelope, hear if she wants to join us,” Tony continued to talk as he made his way deeper into his apartment to grab a shower.

Gerald burst out laughing. He loved it when Tony was so energetic. The man had the ability to make everyone smile around him. “I’ll phone her,” he called out as Tony disappeared from his sight.

“Do that!” Tony called out and then disappeared into the shower.

He appeared in this living room twenty minutes later, showered and dressed.

Gerald hummed in appreciation. “You sure you don’t want to date me?” He beamed.

Tony laughed again. “We’ve been through this before, Gerald. I’m too much for you to handle.” He winked at his friend and grinned when Gerald blushed.

Tony grabbed his coat and made his way over to his door. As he reached it, his phone rang. Tony sighed and his shoulders slumped. By the ringtone he knew who it was. It seemed that whatever Gibbs did for the SECNAV had come to an end. “You and Penelope will be doing lunch alone, it seems.” He reached for his phone.

“Boss.”

_“Dead Navy civilian contractor in Georgetown. I’ll send you the address, meet me there.”_ The line went dead.

Tony wanted to speak up, but then Gerald’s phone buzzed. “Looks like Penelope is doing lunch on her own.” He pressed her number as Gerald answered his own phone. Luckily he knew his friend would understand, it wasn’t the first time that one of them had to bail out of a lunch date due to work.

Tony drove Gerald to NCIS for him to collect the ME’s van and then made his way to Georgetown. He easily spotted the cordoned off area as he parked the Mustang across the street. Tony grabbed his bag and camera, made sure he had his credentials in hand and crossed the street.

The patrol officer on duty was a familiar face, but Tony still showed him his badge before he ducked underneath the tape and made his way over to where Gibbs stood next to the body.

“That was personal,” Tony commented as he came to a halt and looked down. The man’s body was contorted and by the white foam that decorated his mouth and even down the side of his neck indicated to Tony that the poor man was poisoned.

Gibbs grunted. It was the first thing he also concluded when he saw the body. He took a closer look at Tony. “You look better.”

Tony nodded. “Feeling better.” Tony grinned and reached for his camera.

“Heard you closed a cold one.”

Tony shrugged. “You know how it is. The pieces finally all fell into place.”

“Good job, DiNozzo.” Gibbs reached out to slap Tony on the shoulder and didn’t miss the way Tony ducked away. He fisted his hand. “Let’s get this done.” Without looking at Tony again, he moved away.

Tony wanted to kick himself. He didn’t mean to duck out of Gibbs’ reach, or maybe he had. Now was not the time to ponder on it. They had a case to solve. Tony nodded at Gerald and smiled at Ducky when the ME and his assistant arrived on the scene. He stood back and let Ducky do his job. Although it wasn’t the final cause of death, Ducky agreed that it appeared their victim was indeed poisoned.

After hearing Ducky’s verdict, Tony moved away and started taking photos of the scene.

“What the fuck?” Tony hunkered down and stared at the dead pigeon at his feet. “Seriously?” He frowned as he brought up the camera and took photos of the headless pigeon. “This is starting to get hinky.” He couldn’t help using Abby’s word as he got to his feet.

“What do you have, DiNozzo?”

Tony turned around. “Another headless pigeon.”

“What?” Gibbs frowned. He walked over to where Tony stood. “What are you on about? It’s a dead pigeon. There are thousands of them in the city. Move along.”

“But,” Tony tried to speak up, but Gibbs had already moved away. He sighed out of frustration. At least Gibbs didn’t slap him. Knowing that the bird’s death had nothing to do with their victim and that it was a coincidence didn’t sit right with him. There was definitely something going on here. He made a mental note to follow up on the dead pigeon angle again as he put his camera away and started sketching the area.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Their dead contractor was identified as Zach Owen, who had been contracted by the Navy to upgrade a certain computer program that dealt with the dispatchment of drones, something that was highly classified and the only reason they knew, was because Gibbs screamed at some or other pen pusher, got read into the project, and got the information they had required.

Tony quickly cleared their victim’s personal life and at the same time managed to half their pool of potential suspects. Not that they had any suspects to begin with. What bothered Tony was the fact that poisoning was normally personal, and Ducky had confirmed that, but there was no one that fit the profile of being their killer. Zach was single, didn’t have a partner, had plenty of friends, was well liked and even the ex-partners Tony spoke to were all shocked to hear that Zach was dead. All of the alibis checked out.

It meant that their victim’s death had to do with his work. Tony sighed. He rubbed his face as he tried to keep himself awake. His immediate thoughts went to espionage, because what else could it be!

Tony moved away from the screen he stared at and sat down behind his desk. He picked up his pen and tapped it against the desk. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“Not sleeping on the job, Boss,” Tony spoke up as he heard Gibbs when the man approached his desk.

“Then what are you doing, DiNozzo?”

“Thinking.” Tony opened his eyes and sat up. “Abby still has no clue what poison was used?”

Gibbs grunted in agreement.

Tony watched as the man took his own seat. Gibbs looked like he felt. It had been a long day. He could hear the birds chirping outside and he frowned when he stared out of the window. “Fuck.”

“What?” Gibbs frowned at him.

“The birds are awake.”

Gibbs snorted. “Unless they die, yeah, Tony, then they are awake this time of the morning.”

“That’s it, Boss. We worked through the freaking night.” With those words he yawned.

“You’re saying you’re tapping out, DiNozzo?”

Tony glared. “Never, Boss.”

“Good. Let’s get moving.” Gibbs got up.

“Where to?” Tony inquired as he also rose to his feet.

“Coffee,” Gibbs grunted.

“And breakfast.” Tony grinned as he fell into step behind Gibbs. “Need fuel if we’re going to want to make inroads into this case.”

Gibbs merely shook his head. But he knew Tony was right. They needed to eat. He also had to remember that Tony was still recovering from his head injury. But they needed to solve this case. The higher ups would be breathing down their necks with this one. It had a huge financial impact on the Navy if there was a breach in security over Owen’s death.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony groaned as he lowered himself on his bed. “Three fucking days, seventy-two fucking hours, I don’t even want to say how many fucking minutes that was!” he yelled.

He and Gibbs worked straight for three days on Owen’s murder. They took a cat nap here and there; lived off coffee and stale donuts. (Yes, the irony wasn’t lost on him.) But they still hadn’t caught a break in the case. Even Director Morrow had started asking questions, and Tony knew that the man left Gibbs alone and let him do his thing. Needless to say, things didn’t go down very well when Gibbs yelled at Morrow. Their director took a hard look at them and sent them both packing with orders not to come back for the next twenty-four-hours. The man went so far as to threaten Gibbs with a security escort to his home. He would’ve liked to have seen that, but Gibbs gave in and the two of them went home on their own steam.

Now he only wanted to sleep. Yes, he was in a desperate need for a long soothing bath, the showers at NCIS were basic stalls, and his body was in a desperate need for some pampering. But sleep, sleep first.

Tony managed to sit up and pulled off his shirt and T-shirt. He leaned back, undid his pants and managed to wiggle out of them, followed by his underwear without getting off the bed. Tony then shimmied up towards the headboard, grabbed the bedding beneath him and with a well-practiced move he cocooned himself within the covers. He sighed once, yawned, closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony yawned and stretched as he finally woke up a solid ten hours later. He felt much better as he took a long soak in the bath he had promised himself, before he dressed up in an old pair of worn jeans, some sneakers and a long-sleeved T-shirt.

He prepared a healthy breakfast, although the time leaned more towards lunch, and after he had eaten and cleaned up, Tony sat down behind his piano and started to play. As he played, he mentally went through all the facts of the matter. He went through each piece of evidence they had collected, placed them in order to the evidentiary weight they carried.

They still needed to find out the poison used, and Tony knew that may have an impact on the direction the case might take. He also had a feeling, his own gut churning like Gibbs’, that they were missing an important piece of the puzzle. The problem was that, never mind how he arranged the evidence, he couldn’t find what they were missing. It was as frustrating as hell.

Tony’s fingers stilled on the keys. He opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized that he’d closed them. “The dead pigeons.” He shook his head, tried to play again, but his hands stopped. “The fucking headless pigeons!” Tony leaped to his feet and started to pace.

“What is the possibility that we’ll find dead pigeons at different crime scenes in Washington D.C.?” Tony came to a halt. “Good, because there are thousands of the birds. So, yes, dead pigeons are a possibility.”

“What is the possibility of finding headless pigeons at different crime scenes?” Tony paced again. “Slim.”

“Why?” he continued talking to himself.

“Because in how many other cases in the year you’ve been at NCIS, and the time you had been a detective, did you find a headless pigeon at a crime scene?” He interlocked his fingers behind his head.

“None.”

“But did you actively look for headless pigeons?”

Tony groaned. “No.”

“Can you then say for sure that the headless pigeons you’d found in these cases are indicative of something else, or can it be a mere coincidence?”

“Maybe not, but what are the chances of having two cases, both connected to the Navy, both having a headless pigeon at each scene? For that matter, both cases still unresolved.”

Tony sat down on his couch. “What if there are more cases?” He groaned again. The possibility of anyone else noting a headless pigeon in their case notes, or even taking a photo of the dead bird was extremely rare. Even if he did a search, it would be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.

He would also have to find a link between their first case, and this one, just because they were both Navy cases, did not mean that they were linked. He would have to go back and look at both cases, see if he could find a link. It was the first thing he had to do.

Tony went back to his room, changed into a better pair of jeans, put on a shirt and changed his sneakers for a moral formal pair of shoes. He grabbed his credentials, opened his gun safe and removed his main firearm and backup. Tony grabbed a jacket and after securing both pistols to their regular places he put on his jacket and headed out of the door. He could only hope to find a link between the two cases, Gibbs wouldn’t be impressed if he told him that the only link he could find was two dead pigeons. There had to be something more. He was certain there was, he had to find out what it was.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

The bullpen was eerily silent, but then on the other hand, it was Sunday and it would’ve been strange if there were a lot of people around.

Tony made himself comfortable behind his desk and pulled out his personal copy of the Bradshaw case and pulled the Owen file closer as well. He took the oldest case and started reading it backwards in an attempt to see if he could get something to jump out at him or find a possible connection to their latest case.

Tony started up his computer, ran different searches, opened the Owen’s file, read it out loud, but he still came up with nothing. He groaned out of frustration.

He picked up the sketch he made of the Owen crime scene and went through it again. He checked distances and that is when he noticed it. Tony took a deep breath. He took out the sketch from the Bradshaw case, opened it up and had a look.

“Well, color me purple.” Tony leaned back in his chair. He had a link, a very flimsy one, but there could be no other reason except that it was done intentionally. He had more digging to do, not only into old cases, but also on this aspect before he could even think of taking this to Gibbs to have a look at. Tony was grateful for the hours of sleep he got in. He had a feeling that Gibbs would find him at his desk on Monday morning.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony gazed up when a shadow fell over the papers on his desk.

“Gibbs,” he cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

“Could ask you the same thing.”

“Not the same thing.” Tony shook his head. “Director Morrow had you escorted out by security. I don’t think you have been cleared to come back yet.”

Gibbs stared.

Tony shrugged. “What am I talking about, you’re Gibbs. Of course, you’re here.” He leaned back in his chair.

“I found something.”

“On the Owen matter?” Gibbs moved in behind his own desk.

“More than that, a link between Bradshaw and Owen.”

Gibbs’ head snapped up. “Why didn’t you let me know?” he growled.

“Because I’m still making sure.”

“Then you didn’t find a link.”

Tony sighed, silently counted to ten before he spoke up again. “I’ve been working at this agency and with you now for more than a year, Gibbs. By this time, I do know what you expect from me. You seem to forget that I’m not a rookie, I’ve got six years of being a detective behind my name. I do know how to do my job. Just because I decide to be thorough, does not mean I don’t know how to do my job or that I don’t have anything.” Tony snapped.

He watched as Gibbs came from behind his desk and crowded him in behind his own. Tony got to his feet. When Gibbs stood toe to toe with him, Tony had to breathe deeply to control his temper. “Step back, please.”

Gibbs remained silent and neither did he move back.

“I’m not going to ask you again, move back.” Tony ground his teeth.

Gibbs stared at him for a few seconds longer before he finally moved back. “What’s the link?”

Tony balled his fists. He really wanted to punch Gibbs in the mouth. He took a calming breath. “The dead pigeon.”

The slap came out of nowhere and it made his teeth rattle. “What the fuck?” Tony seethed. He had to stop himself for not retaliating against Gibbs, instead he rubbed his head with his hand. Tony listened as Gibbs ranted.

“That’s not a lead. I told you that’s a fucking dead pigeon. They are everywhere. It’s not linked to the case.” Gibbs marched to his desk. “Find me a suitable link, DiNozzo and not a fucking dead bird!” he screamed as he grabbed his jacket and scurried off.

Tony’s anger gave way to something he had no idea on how to describe as he stood flabbergasted and looked on as Gibbs’ disappeared into the elevator. His knees felt weak and he quickly sat down on his chair. For the first time since he joined NCIS he wondered if he had made a mistake.

Tony stared down at his notes and with hands that trembled, he gathered all of his notes and stuffed them into the files before he closed them up. He shoved them into his top drawer and came to his feet. He had some thinking to do and needed a stiff drink, or even two. Maybe the drinking should come first and the thinking later, or maybe he shouldn’t think at all.

Tony grabbed his bag and headed to the elevator. His shoulders sagged. It seemed that he should consider moving on, sooner rather than later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

“For all of the love for unicorns in the world, hold your horses, I’m coming!” Penelope yelled as she struggled to tie her robe and get her fluffy slippers on her feet. In the meantime, her doorbell continued to ring.

“Whoever it is, you better have a brilliant explanation of waking me up from my beauty sleep,” she mumbled as she finally reached the door and stood on her toes to look through the tiny hole. “Tony?” Penelope frowned. She took a second look and then with hands that trembled, she finally managed to unlock the door.

“Are you all right? Are you hurt? What are you doing here, my pretty?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond but pulled him by his hand. Penelope took one look at him and hugged him close to her chest.

“It’s gonna be all right, my lovely. It’s going to be all right.” Without letting him go, Penelope managed to close and latch the door behind him before she moved them to her small living room. She sat them down on the loveseat and cradled Tony against her chest.

It bothered her that Tony has yet to say a word, but the expression on his face spoke on his behalf. She had no idea what had happened, but her friend was crushed. Seriously and utterly crushed. Penelope also knew Tony well enough not to push. The fact that he didn’t answer any of her rapid-fire questions earlier, told her that he wasn’t ready to talk. Not yet in any case, so she made sure that he was comfortable next to her on the small couch and held him tight. He would talk when he was ready.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

She must’ve fallen asleep because when she woke up, she was stretched out on the small settee and one of the many colorful kaftans she had was thrown over her legs. “Tony?” Penelope jumped up. “Tony!” She looked around frantically for her friend. Her brains still mollified with sleep that she even tried looking for him under the bench. He was nowhere to be found. “Tony!”

Penelope came to her feet and ran to her room, she had to phone her Chocolate Adonis, he would find Tony. And the rest of the team would also help. They would not hesitate for one second. She reached her room, and anxiously searched for her phone. She knew she had it in the room when she went to bed, but now she couldn’t find it. She started to toss pillows, blankets and everything else around. First, she’d lost Tony and now her phone, what else could see lose.

“You didn’t lose me.” A voice sounded from the doorway. “And your phone is on your desk where it’s plugged in.”

Penelope squeaked. She twirled around and then her gaze landed on the man she was searching for. “Anthony Dominic DiNozzo, where were you?” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“In the shower,” Tony responded with a shrug.

“In the shower?” she repeated the words. She slapped herself on the forehead. “The shower. I didn’t look there,” she added with a grin.

Tony smiled at her. “It’s a good thing you didn’t. I was naked.” His smile grew larger when she blushed.

“One time, mister. That was one time.” Penelope became serious. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She growled and pointed her finger at him. “You know what I think of the word _fine_, Tony. Especially coming from your lips. You either try again, or if you’re telling me that you’re really are _fine_, then I want to know what happened. And I want every last detail.”

Tony lowered his head. The towel he used to dry his hair dropped from his fingers. He sighed deeply and then sank to his knees.

Even before he could settle on them, Penelope was next to him on the tiled floor. “What happened?”

“I made a mistake.”

“You’re human.”

Tony shook his head. “No, I mean, I made a mistake in taking the job with NCIS. I realize that now.”

“Tony?” she whispered. Dread filled her stomach. She’d seen how totally devastated Tony was after Wendy left him at the altar and he found out that Danny was a dirty cop. But she saw him after he’d started working with Agent Gibbs at NCIS. It was as if he got a new lease on life. He smiled, he laughed, he lived again, but this man on his knees on her floor, looked like the man from almost two years back. Penelope balled her fists. She didn’t believe in physical violence, but she could see herself with some kind of weapon in her hand bashing in Gibbs’ head for him.

Tony worshiped the ground he walked on. Some days she had a feeling Tony might have a crush on the older man, but he never said anything to her, and she didn’t ask. Tony would tell her if he wanted her to know.

“Want to tell me what happened?” Penelope tried again. Both of them were now seated flat on the floor. Tony had his fingers in his mouth and she gently took his hand and curled her own around it. It had been a while since he’d eaten his nails. It wasn’t a habit she wanted him to get into again.

Tony took a deep breath and started talking. He told her about the cases and how both of them ran cold. He told her about the pigeons and what he found in the early hours of the morning. He explained how he mentioned the pigeons before and what had happened when he told Gibbs about the pigeons in the bullpen again. He didn’t tell her about the slap. She didn’t need to know about that. It was bad enough that Gerald knew what Gibbs did.

Penelope seethed with anger, but she managed to keep her head as Tony told her everything. When he stopped talking, she turned and hugged him again. “That dead pigeons are not a mere coincidence, Tony. I might only be a computer analyst, but even I can tell you they are important to your cases. Agent Gibbs is being an asshat for not seeing that. You do know that you need to do next, right?”

Tony shook his head. “Forget about it and find another link between them.”

Penelope found herself staring with an open mouth at her friend. “I did not hear you say that, Anthony DiNozzo. You will not forget about it. There’s a link and you need to prove it. You know what this might mean, and you can’t ignore it.”

“Why not? It’s only dead pigeons.”

She tilted her head back and screamed. Penelope screamed until her voice gave way and only then, did she stop. She had to take a few deep breaths before she could speak up. “No. It’s not, and you know that. You are one hell of a detective, but you’re an even better profiler even if you don’t want to admit it. You know what you need to do next, and if you don’t, let me spell it out for you. You need to go through old cases and see if you can find any other references made to dead pigeons. If there’s two there is a huge possibility that there will be more than two. You need to find them.”

“And then?” Tony had only stared at her when she’d screamed.

“Then you admit that you’ve got a serial killer on the loose. Then you start profiling the creep and you catch him. Because that is what you do.”

Tony cocked his head. “You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it is.” She got to her feet and pulled Tony up as well. “You need to show Agent Gibbs that he’s wrong and I’ll help you. Can you get me access to your cold case files? I can run a search for you to find any possible matches. I’ll also look through our files for you.”

“Wow, easy, Penelope. You can’t do this. If your boss finds out.” Tony shook his head.

Penelope grinned. “My boss is an angel. Strict, rarely smiles, but with a heart of gold. He would understand.”

“Gideon?” Tony frowned.

Penelope gasped. “I never told you, did I? No, I didn’t. My bad.” She smiled again, although the light in her eyes dimmed a bit. “Gideon resigned. We’ve got new chief. Aaron Hotchner.” A glint appeared in her eyes. “You have to meet him.”

Tony barked out laughing. “Penelope Garcia, you are not going to set me up with your boss.” He rolled his eyes. “What would Morgan say if he heard you now?”

Penelope huffed. “He will take my side. My chocolate teddy bear loves me to bits, he will always take my side.”

Tony hummed. He had a feeling Penelope was right about that. She had Derek Morgan wrapped around her pinky and he would do anything for her.

“And what would Spencer say?”

“You really think Spencer would take your side? That sweet boy will quote so many statistics to you which will prove that your dead pigeons are indeed connected to your victims. So, don’t you come and think for one moment he would take your side.”

Tony sighed in defeat. He knew Penelope was right. “I’ll make you a deal. Give me forty-eight hours to see if I can find any other cases that might fit my cases and then you can start looking around through your archive.”

“You’ve got a deal, mister. Forty-eight hours and nothing more.”

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

When Tony arrived back at the bullpen Monday morning before eight, it was still eerily still. He took a deep breath to calm himself and settled in behind his desk. For the first time since he started working at NCIS Tony dreaded this working day. He’d already made a decision. He would see this case through and then he would resign. It was time he moved on again.

He switched on the desktop, entered his password and clicked on the button that would lead him straight to the index of old cases. There he quickly typed in the keywords he was looking for and held his breath.

Tony also opened a second page and started a general search on the pigeons. It sounded silly, but he needed to know more about the birds. He had an idea at the back of his mind, one even flimsier than the idea that the headless pigeons were part of cold cases and some sort of calling card. Maybe it had to do with religion. He shoved the thought back down. He would look at that later.

When his desktop pinged he wasn’t surprised to see that he got zero results. He knew that it would happen. He would have to go through the cases by hand. The only problem he had was that he had no idea on how far back he should start looking.

“Agent DiNozzo.”

Tony looked up and over his shoulder. “Director Morrow.” Tony came to his feet when he saw the director standing on the mezzanine floor above his head.

“Agent Gibbs will not be in for the coming two weeks. He has been requested by SecNav for protection duty. I know the two of you had one active case, if you get a breakthrough on that, get Balboa and his team to provide backup.”

“I’ll do that, Sir.” Tony sat down again as the director walked further up the stairs and disappeared from his view. He sighed in relief. He could continue to work the case, but now he also had time to look through the cold cases without being told he was wasting time or being assaulted. Tony’s hand travelled to the back of his head and he rubbed it gently.

“You still haven’t spoken to him.”

Tony gazed up. He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I have and I’m rubbing my head because it aches. That’s all.”

Gerald stared at him and finally nodded. “Thought I would see you this weekend.” He leaned with his hip against the desk.

“Yeah, sorry. Got caught up in work. I’ll make it up to you next weekend. We still owe Penelope lunch.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Gerald sighed when his cell phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and stared at the screen. “Duty calls. See you later.”

“Later,” Tony gave a small wave of his hand and looked back down at his computer screen when Gerald jogged off. It was time to get to work.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony had no idea how much time passed as he settled in and worked every angle he could think of on their open case, while at the same time he kept thinking about and working on possible leads for a connection between the two cases.

His desk, the floor, even Gibbs’ desk was all littered with crime scene photos. More than once he thought of gathering it all up and moving into one of the conference rooms. At least there he would have more space to work.

“Another headless pigeon.”

For a moment Tony bristled at Balboa’s words as he looked up and saw the senior agent staring at one of the pigeon photos. It was then that Mike’s words made their way through his muddled brain and he realized what Mike had said. “What do you mean another headless pigeon?”

“Gunnery Sergeant Neil Summers.”

“The case where your victim’s head was bashed in.”

Mike nodded. “The same one. There was a headless pigeon near the scene. For one or another reason I remember seeing it and taking a photo of it.”

Tony managed not to jump up with joy. Instead he nodded. “You didn’t catch the person responsible for the murder.”

“Had to send it off as a cold case last month. Couldn’t find any other lead on the case to take it further.”

“You had any other cases with headless pigeons?” Tony hoped he managed to keep his voice neutral.

“Had a few dead pigeons over the years, but never a headless one. That was my first.” Mike placed the photo down.

“Interesting.” Not wanting Mike to attack him like Gibbs did, he left it at that. He would pull the cold case later. If his heart rate increased a bit after this revelation from Balboa, he didn’t let on.

When Mike moved away, Tony barely managed to stay seated at his desk and work on his theories. He couldn’t let Mike see him working on the cold case. Not yet, in any case. With that in mind, Tony started running searches on the significance of dead pigeons. Pigeons and or birds used in religious ceremonies and that was when he found something.

_Sin sacrifice_. It dated from centuries ago and seemed to be practiced by different religious groups. It seemed to be a purification offering. What had drawn Tony to the sacrifice was the fact that it noted that when a bird was sacrificed, the _thumb was pushed into the neck of the bird and the head wrung off_. It did note that a second bird would be burnt on the altar as a _whole sacrifice_. The last part had bothered Tony as none of the crime scenes had any burned pigeons lying around.

He was unsure if the sin sacrifice was done on behalf of the murdered victim, that they had sinned in one or other manner, or if the murderer was asking for forgiveness for committing the murder. Tony had to go back and look at their victims’ past, there might be something there that could make things clear or maybe even more muddled.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

It was well after midnight by the time Tony shut down his desktop and light and made a move to go home. He’d finally got the opportunity to get hold of Balboa’s cold case and it was a perfect match. He was grateful that the senior agent not only had taken photos of the pigeon, but also indicated its position on the crime scene sketch. And the other box he could tic – the distance between the body and the bird. Not exactly the same as in his two cases, but he was anal when it came to measuring distances so the fact that it didn’t measure up precisely, didn’t faze him out too much.

When Tony arrived home, he locked up his main firearm and backup in the safe and poured himself a good shot of whiskey. Then he took off his shoes, unbutton his jacket, loosened his tie and made himself comfortable on his couch. He already decided on the way over to his apartment that he would take the rare night off. Tonight was a night for doing as little as possible. It was a night for takeout pizza and movies all by himself. Luckily the pizza place around the corner delivered twenty-four-seven and they never frowned when he ordered pizza at two in the morning.

Tony reached for his cell on the coffee table and nearly jumped out of his skin when it rang in his hand. “Fuck,” he cursed as he took a deep breath. “DiNozzo,” he answered as he swung his legs from the couch to sit up.

_“Anthony DiNozzo?”_ A male voice sounded through the small microphone.

“Yes.” Tony frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for any telemarketers, although he couldn’t hear any other voices in the background.

_“I am sorry to bother you so late, but unfortunately it couldn’t be helped.”_

“Okay, but who are you?”

_“I apologize. My name is Graham Du Monte. I am, was, your father’s business partner.”_

Tony bowed his head and at the same time he bit hard down on his bottom lip. The man on the other side hadn’t even told him what he wanted, but he already knew that it would make his blood pressure rise. “How much does he owe you?” Sometimes it was better to cut right to the chase.

_“What?”_ The man sounded confused. _“Are you talking about your father?”_

“Who else would I be talking about?” Tony rose to his feet. The line remained silent from the other side. For a moment Tony wondered if the call got disconnected, but then Du Monte spoke up again.

_“No, no. Your father does not owe me any money.”_

“That’s great. Did he run off with your wife?” Tony walked over to the side cabinet to fill up his glass. It seemed like he was going to need the liquid strength.

_“What?”_ Du Monte sounded angry.

“You know, if that’s the thing, then I am sorry. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve not spoken to daddy dearest in almost seven years.” Tony frowned. “For that matter, how did you get this number? I know he doesn’t have it. And if he did, he would never use it.”

_“I’ve got contacts.”_ Du Monte sighed. _“That’s beside the point.”_ He continued before Tony could interrupt him again. _“I phoned you because your father passed on.”_

The glass shattered on the floor. He felt the shards of glass nicking the top of his bare feet. Tony didn’t even look down.

_“Anthony? Anthony? Anthony?”_

When his name was called for a third time, the voice finally penetrated his fog clouded mind. “Yeah, I hear you.” Tony leaned against the counter. “What happened?”

_“Embolic stroke. He collapsed at dinner, was pronounced dead by the EMTs on the scene.”_

“This happened tonight?” Once again, Tony got greeted with silence.

“When?” He managed to speak up again.

_“Three weeks ago. The funeral was held two weeks back.”_

Tony nodded even though the man on the other side couldn’t see him. He had no idea about what to say. It seemed that he wasn’t even important enough to be notified on time of his father’s demise, although that was rather a bit unfair, he did admit that his father didn’t have his numbers. “Thank you for letting me know.”

_“There’s something else I needed to discuss with you.”_

Tony snorted. He couldn’t help it. “Of course there is.” He took a deep breath. “I’m listening.” It seemed that the man was going to ignore his first comment.

_“I would rather discuss that with you in person. When can we meet up?”_

For a moment Tony wondered if he should think of an excuse not to meet with his father’s business partner. He really didn’t want to deal with anything that concerned Anthony DiNozzo Senior. “I’m rather busy at the moment, it would have to be quick.”

_“It won’t take long.”_

“Can you tell me what’s it about?”

_“Your father’s will.”_

Tony frowned. “His will? I’m surprised to hear that you say he had one. The great Anthony DiNozzo saw himself larger than life. Having a will means he was flawed. He could die.” Tony snorted again. “He did die.” Tony sighed. “But that’s got nothing to do with you. The fact that you’re phoning me tells me it’s been read already. And what? You want to tell me in person I didn’t inherit a cent. Well, then let me stop you from going through all the trouble and tell you I really don’t care. He disowned me when I was twelve. Let’s leave it at that, Mister Du Monte. Thank you for letting me know of his passing. Have a good night.” Tony didn’t wait for a reply but ended the call. He stepped back and cursed.

“Fuck!” He lifted his foot and pulled the shard of glass from the bottom of his foot. “Just what I fucking needed.” He threw the sharp piece onto the top of the liquor cabinet and managed to get out of the living room and into his bathroom without stepping into the other pieces of glass, but he did leave a bloody trail behind.

His phone rang again as he tended to his foot, but he didn’t even bother hobbling back to get it. Whoever it was could phone again and if it was Mister Du Monte, well, he would quickly realize that Tony didn’t want to talk to him again.

Tony’s foot continued to bleed never mind how much pressure he applied to the cut. “Fucking great.” He looked at the time. It was almost three in the morning and it seemed that a trip to the ER was in order. His stomach growled and he growled back at it. He couldn’t think of his hunger now. He had to get his foot stitched up, and by that time, he would have to be back at work. Tony bandaged his foot up as best as he could, grab a clean set of clothes, but decided to forgo a suit this time around. He packed his go bag with the clothes and hobbled back to the living room where he retrieved his firearms and phone.

As he closed his apartment door behind him, there was only one silver lining he could think of. At least he was up to date on his tetanus shots.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The ER had been busier than what he’d thought it would, which meant if Gibbs were in the office, he would’ve had to explain why he only got into work at nine. Now he’d only phoned the director and told him that he had an emergency and that was that.

Tony placed the crutches against the wall at the back of his desk. The cut on his foot was deep enough to require stitches and walking with stitches was not a pleasurable experience.

“What happened?”

Tony looked up. “Didn’t look where I was walking,” he answered Gerald as he lowered himself into his chair.

“What’s the damage?” Gerald asked in concern.

“Stepped on a piece of glass. Seven stitches later.” He shrugged. “Not that bad, merely uncomfortable.”

“Where were you walking?” Gerald pushed his hands into his pockets in an attempt to stop himself from taking Tony’s foot to inspect the injury himself.

“Did you not have date night last night?” Tony leaned back in his chair and interlinked his fingers behind his head. He had a silly grin on his face.

Gerald cocked his head. “You do know; I know what you’re trying to do?”

“Did you go to the movies, or out to dinner at that new restaurant you wanted to try out?” Tony continued.

Gerald sighed. “We had a quiet dinner, that’s all.”

“Good.” Tony grinned. He wanted to speak up again when Gerald’s phone rang.

The two men looked at one another.

“Ducky.” They grinned.

Gerald waved as he made his way to the stairs to go down to the morgue.

When he disappeared from sight, Tony released his breath. For a moment he let himself be vulnerable. The hours he had to wait in the ER left him with too many hours of doing nothing and unfortunately that made him think about his father. The man who disowned him at the age of twelve, and the man who’d not been a father to him ever in his life was dead. For one or another reason it still hurt.

Tony lifted his head when someone cleared their throat in front of him. A distinguish looking man stood before his desk and one of the security guards stood two paces behind him.

“Can I help you?” Tony got to his feet.

“Graham Du Monte.” The man reached out to shake Tony’s hand.

Tony sighed. He nodded to the security guard and watched as the man walked away. When he was out of hearing distance, Tony spoke up. “You use your contacts to find out where I work as well?”

Du Monte smiled. “That wasn’t necessary. Your father told me.”

“My father?” Tony shook his head. “I don’t believe that.”

“I thought as much. I have a lot to tell you, and I don’t want to bother you here at your work. Please, meet with me for lunch or dinner, I will tell you everything you need to know and then you can decide what you want to do.”

Tony shook his head for a second time. “Let me make it easy for you. I’m not interested. You don’t need to share anything with me. You informed me of my father’s passing. You’ve done your duty. Thank you.” He sat back down.

“You are as stubborn as your father.” Du Monte sighed. “I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you, and I promise, I’m not trying to make it even more difficult for you. I only want a chance to explain some things to you in regard to your father and his will.”

Tony slammed his fist on the desk. The bull pen became quiet. “And I’m not interested. Please, leave.”

“Everything all right, Tony?” Mike Balboa stood at his desk. His hand rested on the bud of his weapon.

Tony nodded. “Can I ask you to escort Mr. Du Monte out of the building please? I’ve got work to do.” Tony sat down and refused to look at the man any longer. Later, when he looked up, he found an elegant business card on the side of his desk. For one or another reason he placed it in his top drawer instead of throwing it in the trashcan.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Agents and admin personnel stayed out of Tony’s way for the rest of the day. Even Abby got the message when she came and asked a lot of questions and he sort of growled at her.

By the time the clock struck five in the afternoon, Tony’s foot throbbed and he felt nauseous. The last he ignored, even if he still didn’t eat. For the first, he overturned his go bag and found the medication the ER doctor prescribed to him. He dried swallowed the two tablets and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

When he woke up again, time had passed, and through the window, he could see it was nighttime. Tony looked at his watch and groaned. It was after eight at night. It meant the few seconds, had turned into over three hours.

“Fuck.” He rubbed his hands vigorously across his face in an attempt to get himself awake. His forty-eight hours with Penelope were almost over and he didn’t doubt for a second that she had a timer that would go off at the exact time and then she’d start her search.

Tony rose to his feet. Grunted as a sharp pain travelled from the bottom of his feet straight up his leg. He bit down on his bottom lip and ignored it for the moment. He knew he’d have to take a look at his foot, it wasn’t supposed to hurt like that, but now was not the time.

He pulled his keyboard closer and opened the software the agency used to log their cases and he started yet another search.

A search field indicated for random keywords and knowing that he had nothing else left to do, Tony typed in _rock pigeon_ and stared as the circle of dots indicated that his search was being done. While he waited, he pulled his files with notes closer and flipped through the different pages without really reading anything, only skimming the words.

His desktop pinged and Tony looked up. He blinked and squinted at the screen. “One match.” He repeated the word again and then he grinned. “One match!” he repeated with glee as he clicked on the link.

Tony noted the file number and then jumped to his feet. It was the worst thing he’d done in a long time. He managed to muffle the scream in time and gingerly lowered himself back into his chair. There was something seriously wrong with his foot. And ignoring it was not going to work.

Tony leaned back in his chair, lifted his leg and with slow movements he first removed his sock and then the strapped-on bandage. The gauze was smeared with blood and the stitches were stuck to it. He struggled to work it loose, even going as far as dripping some water on it, in an attempt to see if he got to soften it up so it would peel off.

The wound was puffy and a red line streaked from it towards his heel. A small amount of pus oozed out from the corner. “Fuck.” Tony lowered his head onto his chest. He knew it didn’t look good for him. There had to be a sliver of glass still stuck in the wound that the doctor had missed and now it had gotten infected. He knew what the red line across his foot meant. It was something that he couldn’t ignore.

Tony groaned as he re-wrapped his foot with the bandage before he pulled on his sock. He stayed seated in his chair as he gathered his stuff and then he quickly sent a request for the closed file. Hopefully it would be on his desk in the morning.

When it was time to stand up, he did it carefully and slowly. Tony managed not to place too much weight on his injured foot as he swung his go-bag over his shoulder, took hold of the crutch and hobbled to the elevator. It was slow going, but finally he managed to get out of the building and into his car. The only thing he wished for now was that the ER wasn’t busy. If that turned out to be the case, he was screwed.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Bethesda Naval Hospital: 12 Hours later**

Tony looked up bleary eyed as someone knocked on his hospital door. It was after eight in the morning and he was stuck in the hospital.

“This is becoming a habit, I see.” Gerald grinned as he entered the room.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Trust me, it’s not something that I enjoy.”

Gerald chuckled. “You sure there’s not a cute doctor around that you’re chatting up to go out with you?”

Tony laughed. “I think I’ve got better pickup lines than landing up in here to go on a date.”

“True, I’ve seen your moves.” Gerald shook his head. “All jokes aside, how are you feeling?”

“Better. They had to reopen the wound. At least this time they found all of the shards. The infection is clearing up as well.” He had phoned his friend and explained to him that he was back in hospital. He once again didn’t tell Gerald where the shard came from, or that his father had passed.

“You planning on signing yourself out AMA again?” Gerald crossed his arms.

“You here to stop me?”

Gerald nodded. “Penelope sent me.”

Tony shook his head. “Trust her to do something like that.” He sighed. “I’ll be good. Doctor says they will set me free by the end of today, so I’ll survive.” He stared at his friend. “For now, in any case.”

“I know why you’re staring at me.” Gerald held up a file. “You want this.” He passed it to his friend.

“Yes, thank you.” Tony indicated to the small night table next to his bed. “Pass me my go bag, please. The nurse shoved it in there after I got settled in here last night.”

Gerald retrieved the bag and placed it on Tony’s bed. “Let me guess, you’re going to work on it right now.”

“What else do you want me to do?” Tony shrugged. “At least I’m staying put.” He took out his notes and spread everything out around him. Lastly, he took the file Gerald brought, and he opened it up.

“What do you want with such an old case?” Gerald noted it was a matter of 1993. “One of Mike Franks’ matters, I see.”

“Do you know him?” Tony asked as he gazed up.

“No.” Gerald shook his head. “Only heard about him. Did you know Agent Gibbs was his probie?”

“Seriously?” Tony grinned. “That’s one thing I can’t see; Gibbs being anyone’s probie.” He paged through the file. “What kind of an agent was Franks?”

“Tough bastard. Loved taking chances, short cuts, you know.”

Tony hummed. He opened the photos and he couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face. He took a quick look at the crime scene sketch and nodded. It fitted perfectly.

“What’s with this case?” Gerald pulled a chair closer.

“Hit and run of a sailor. No suspect ever found,” Tony responded as he skimmed the pages. He loved reading old cold cases, especially since he had no prior knowledge of them. His brain soaked up all the information contained on the pages. He pulled a writing pad closer and made notes. He had a few questions he needed to ask Franks.

“Do you know where I can get Franks number?”

Gerald cocked his head. “HR should be able to give it to you.”

Tony slapped himself on the forehead. “My brain is muddled; I should’ve thought of that myself.” He knew that if he phoned, Deloris would definitely help him.

“It’s a sign.”

Tony nodded. “Yes, it’s a sign for me to get out of here.” He started packing all of the papers back into the files.

Gerald reached out and took hold of his friend’s hand. When Tony looked up, he shook his head. “It’s a sign that you should rest.”

Tony gaped at him. Finally, he found his voice. It sounded squeaky in his ears. “Are you turning on me?”

Gerald smiled. “No, I’m making sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“Yeah, and I can do that at home.”

“No. You’re still connected to an IV and one of those bags might be antibiotics, but the other one tells me you’re dehydrated and badly enough for them to put you on fluids. So, let it run through and later when the doctor comes to look at your foot, we’ll hear what he says.”

“Why are you always so damn reasonable?” Tony leaned back against his pillow. He couldn’t stop the yawn that escaped. When he saw the way Gerald stared at him, he returned the look with a glare. “Don’t you dare say another word.”

Gerald held his hands up in mock defeat. “Get some rest. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He smiled when he saw that Tony had drifted off to sleep. He gathered up the papers and placed it all neatly to the side, and with a last look at Tony, he quietly left the room.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**2 Days later: Tony’s apartment**

Tony hobbled over to where he placed the white board, grabbed the marker and scribbled something down. He stood back, cocked his head, took the cloth he used on the board and wiped out what he’d written. He turned and hobbled back to the table. Tony picked up the photos, glared at them, placed them back down and growled out of frustration.

“Another fucking dead end!” he screamed. He picked up his phone and gazed at the darkened screen. Deloris gave him Franks’ number without even hesitating about it. He’d called the man and had to leave a voice message that was still not returned. Tony pondered with the idea of calling the man again, but he also didn’t want to piss the retired agent off. He would have to wait a bit longer and hopefully Franks’ would call back.

Thinking of Franks made Tony sit down and take a hold of the cold case file. There was something in there that didn’t make sense. Something that he would’ve investigated if it was his case, but after going through the file he came to realize that it wasn’t followed up on. Now, fifteen years later, it was highly unlikely he would be able to follow up on it, but if Franks didn’t get back to him, he wouldn’t have a choice.

A knock at his door nearly made him jump out of his skin, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Coming,” Tony called out as he got to his feet and reached for the crutches that he used to get around the apartment.

At the door he looked through the peephole and grinned as he opened the door. “You’re lost?” He shuffled to the side to let his guest in.

Penelope rolled her eyes as she tripled into his apartment on her high platform heels. She had on bright pink fishnet stockings, with a creamy yellow billowing skirt and a lacy green blouse. It made his eyes hurt, but it looked fantastic on his friend.

“You look stunning.” Tony kissed her on the cheek.

Penelope smiled at him. “Thank you.” She handed him a dish she had in her hands, took in the crutches held and grabbed the dish back. “I know you’re a much better cook than me, but last time you had dinner at my place you said you liked this, so I made it for you. You know it freezes easily,” she continued to talk as she walked through to the kitchen.

“Did you make me your mac and cheese?” Tony hobbled after her. His stomach growled and he was grateful for the fact that Penelope had been already in the kitchen when that happened.

“You want some now?” She asked even as she opened the cupboard door to take out two plates.

“You know I can’t say no.” Tony grinned as he passed her a serving spoon and watched as she piled his plate high.

She stuck it in the microwave and when he frowned at her she shrugged. “Yeah, I know you’ll eat it at room temperature, but I like it hot, so suck it up, Buttercup.”

She made Tony laugh. He closed the distance between them and hugged her to his chest. “Thank you.”

She nodded and stayed in his embrace until the timer on the microwave beeped behind them. She let go of him reluctantly. “Want me to carry this through to the dining room or do you want to eat here?” She indicated to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

“Not much space in the dining room at the moment.” Tony grabbed the cutlery and handed the utensils to her.

Penelope nodded. She didn’t ask. Tony would tell her if he wanted her to know, but she had a feeling she knew what he had in there. He always had a way with murder boards, the case that he was working on now would have him set one up. Penelope, did, however, steer the conversation in that direction.

“Your forty-eight hours are up.”

Tony stabbed at a piece of macaroni and watched as the cheese strand trailed behind it until it finally snapped. He ignored her as he took the bite. Tony moaned. It was as good as the previous time he’d tasted it. He usually could tell what people put in their mac and cheese, but there was something in Penelope’s that gave it that something extra. When he asked her what it was, she told him it was love. Strangely enough, he believed her.

He looked on as she reached for her phone. It was strange to see it in her hand when they were eating. She’d normally placed her phone well out of her reach and would ignore it if it rang, unless her team was on standby.

“What you’re doing?” He stabbed another piece of stringy goodness.

“Phoning my man hunk.”

“Why?”

“To tell him to come over and look at whatever you have on that murder board of yours.”

Tony lowered his fork. “You wouldn’t.” He didn’t deny the board he’d put up in the dining room.

She cocked her head. “You daring me?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Fine, yes. I know my forty-eight hours are over. But, in my defense, I was in the hospital for a part of that.”

“See, so much better to talk to me than ignoring me.” She placed her phone back on the counter.

“I’m eating.” He knew it was a lame excuse. She always reminded him that he was the only man she knew (except Spencer), who could multitask. But then the boy genius was something else.

Penelope smiled. Her eyes twinkled. “I wanted to do some digging as I promised, but I’ll give you another day, mister and then I’m going through our archives.” She wiggled a finger at him.

“Thank you.” Tony leaned back in his chair. “I found one more case.”

“The cold case Gerald brought to you?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, and what’s interesting is that it was a case done by Mike Franks.”

“Don’t know the name.”

Tony told her who Franks was and soon the two friends were chatting away on what sort of probie Leroy Jethro Gibbs would’ve been.

“You’re still crushing on him?” she asked quietly.

The tip of Tony’s ears turned red and he shook his head, then nodded. “A bit.”

Penelope nodded. She wouldn’t tease Tony about this.

“But he’s not interested. He’s dating another redhead.”

“Didn’t his divorce recently go through?”

“Yip. A month back.”

“She must be one hell of a redhead.”

“His ex-ex-wife was also a redhead.”

Penelope laughed. “Seems you need to dye your hair, lovely.”

“No,” Tony snorted. “That’s not going to work. And I short the other bits as well.”

“The booby, bits?” She grinned.

“Those.” Tony got to his feet and reached for his crutches. He didn’t manage to stifle a groan as he hobbled towards the kettle. Penelope loved a cup of peppermint tea after dinner.

“Sit down, I’ll make it.” She stood next to him.

He wanted to argue, but the look she gave him made him bow his head in defeat and he shuffled off.

“You want some coffee?” She called over her shoulder as he moved to the dining room.

“Nothing thanks.” He’d found out that the pain medication he was on didn’t go well with caffeine. And while he normally tried to stay away from drinking pills, these pills didn’t make him loopy or act strangely so he drank them as required. He’d already made a note to update his medical files for this specific form of pain relief.

“When was the cold case?” Penelope asked as she pulled out one of the dining chairs that was not used to put something on and sat down with the steaming cup of tea.

“1993.”

“And now only in 2003?”

Tony nodded.

“Either your unsub was somewhere else in the world, or there’s a lot of potential cold cases out there that you’re missing.”

“I’m going for the second scenario.”

Penelope gulped. “And what did you tell me, there seems to be a cooling off period of approximately three to four months?”

“Yes. At three cases a year, over at least ten years, that’s thirty cases, where I only have information on four. Two of my own. One of Mike Balboa and now Mike Franks case.”

“I really think you need to tell Gibbs about this.”

“You think I haven’t tried?” Tony rose to his feet. “He slapped me so hard the last time I mentioned the dead pigeon that I swear I was concussed, Penelope. Unless I’ve got more definitive proof, he doesn’t want to hear about it.”

Penelope became dead quiet and Tony realized what he’d said. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Not that bad? You admitted to me that a man you work with on a daily basis, a man that you’re supposed to call your partner slapped you. And not a light slap, a slap that injured you. I know you, Anthony DiNozzo, you can milk a paper cut for days, but the moment you’re seriously injured you shut down. You don’t want anyone to know you’re in pain, so admitting to this means it’s big.” She glared at him. “Something tells me it’s also not the first time he’s done something like this.”

“It’s nothing, drop it.”

“No, I’m not going to. How long has this been going on, Tony? Who else knows about this? Did you report him?”

“Not talking about it, Penelope.”

“Yes, we are.” She stood up. “I will not have my best friend be assaulted by a colleague at his workplace. A person that you’re supposed to be able to trust with your life, Tony. Tell me, how can you do that? How can you trust someone to have your back, when that person assaults you? It is not right.”

Tony felt the trembles going through his body. He had to strengthen the grip he had on his crutches. “I’m tired. I think it’s time you left, Garcia.” He hobbled through his apartment and went up the single step to his door. He unlocked it and held it open.

Penelope moved to the living room and stared at him with tears in her eyes. She finally nodded, grabbed her bag and moved to the door. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Tony DiNozzo.” She walked out of the apartment.

Tony closed the door and leaned with his head against the door. He listened until he no longer could hear her footsteps on the tiled floor. Only then did he turn and slid down the door. He pulled his legs up to his chest and lowered his head on his knees. There he sat for a very long time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**December 2003**

Tony had stopped being nice after he’d left a fourth message for Mike Franks to call him back. Yes, he knew he sounded rude; he had been rude. All the fucking man had to do was to return his call, surely it couldn’t be that difficult.

He looked at the pile of files on his desk. He’d become creative in looking for any old cases with dead pigeons and broadened the search to include dead birds, rodents and animals. It gave him a total of fifty cases. He’d asked records to bring them all up, which they did very reluctantly and now he had the task of sorting them out.

When a shadow landed on his desk, Tony stopped scribbling and raised his head. He came to his feet. “Director Morrow.”

“Agent DiNozzo.” Tom Morrow watched the young agent before him. When Gibbs first told him he hired the man, Tom had merely shaken his head. Technically Gibbs didn’t have the ability to hire or fire anyone, he was a mere agent, a senior agent, but still an agent. He wasn’t in a managerial position to make such a decision, but since Gibbs also went through temporary agents, he’d decided to overlook this ‘appointment’ and it worked out perfectly. He’d done the interview after two months himself with Tony, made sure that all the paperwork was completed properly, although, it seemed like Deloris also had taken a shine to DiNozzo and he didn’t have to change any of the required paperwork in the end. He’d backdated DiNozzo’s appointment and it was the best decision he’d made in a very long time.

“Bit of light reading?” Tom joked with a smile.

“Something like that, Sir.” Tony smiled back. When the Director didn’t say anything further, Tony knew he had to explain. “Looking for a possible connection between two cases, Sir.” He didn’t mention the others, not yet in any case.

Tom nodded. “Well, then I do hope you find it.” He turned to leave, but then stopped. “Getting old.” He shook his head. “SecNav’s meeting is running longer than expected. Gibbs will be away for another week at least. Thought I’d let you know.”

Tony managed not to jump up with joy. “Thank you, Sir.”

“It will also give that foot of yours more time to heal, I don’t want Gibbs grumbling about not going out in the field because his partner is on crutches.”

“I’ll be fine by then, Sir.”

“Good to know.” With a nod Morrow moved away from the desk.

Tony’s shoulders slumped as he sat down again. He felt sort of giddy. He had another week to look for more cases and hopefully find a more solid connection between them. If only Franks would phone him back.

At that same time the phone on his desk started to ring. “Very Special Agent DiNozzo,” Tony greeted as he reached for the first cold file.

_“There is not such a thing as a very special agent. You think being a NIS agent is a joke?”_

Tony frowned. “Let me guess, Mike Franks?”

_“That’s Agent Franks to you, sonny. And for what are you bothering me? What do you want?”_

Tony managed not to sigh. Being a special agent was not an honorary title. The moment the man resigned, he was no longer an agent, special or otherwise. “Yes, I am looking for you.” Tony picked up his writing pad and flipped it open. “In 1993 you had a hit and run case of a sailor called Joseph Bowen.”

_“Yeah, never caught the son of a bitch responsible for that.”_

“You noted a dead pigeon on the scene?” Tony frowned when the line remained silent. “Hello?”

_“You’re harassing me over a dead pigeon? And here I thought it was something important. Like maybe you caught the guy responsible for Bowen’s death. Who’s your superior?”_

“I don’t have a superior. I’m a fully qualified special agent,” Tony bristled. “Now, although I don’t know who killed Bowen, I have a feeling that the dead pigeon might be a vital piece of evidence…” Tony had to stop talking as the man on the other side of the line started laughing out loud.

“It’s not that funny,” Tony curled his hand into a fist. He was grateful that the man on the other side couldn’t see him.

_“I didn’t note it on my report, I had an eager probie at the time, he noted it. Luckily he came to his senses and no other dead pigeons made it into reports.”_ The man sighed. _“You’re interfering with my drinking time. Unless you’d managed to catch the killer, don’t bother me again.”_

“Who was the agent?” Tony asked before he realized that Franks had ended the call.

“Fucking great.” Tony slammed the phone down. There had to be a way to find out who the agent was. Tony started working through the file again. Franks was listed as the senior agent. The forms that had to be completed as part of the investigations, made no provision for any other agents’ names to be noted who might’ve worked on the case. It had changed over the years, but in 1993 that was not the case. It seemed that he had reached another dead end.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

It was after five when Tony leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face with his hands. He was dead tired. He’d managed to work through all fifty old files. He found another possible ten out of the fifty. The others were an assortment of dead animals, including one raccoon. He’d separated the files and would take the ten remaining ones’ home.

His phone rang in his pocket and he dug it out. He groaned when he noticed the name that flashed across the screen.

“Gibbs,” Tony answered curtly.

_“Mike Franks has more years of experience as an agent than what you’ve been alive, DiNozzo. How dare you question his investigative skills, and that over a dead pigeon.”_ Gibbs bellowed over the speaker.

“What?” Tony rose to his feet. “I asked him a mere question for which he couldn’t even give me a proper answer, and the first thing he does is to run and cry to you. How pathetic is that? And for your information, Gibbs, I’m not a green, fresh out of the box, investigator. I got my gold shield more than six years ago. I might still be new at NCIS, but at least I’m not an old fossil like him, who drinks his days away and can’t even remember that it’s no longer the NIS, or the fact that he’s no longer an agent. Don’t you dare and shout at me for doing my job. Something that you apparently don’t want me to do. I had enough of you and your attitude, Gibbs. So get your head out of Franks’ ass, and take a proper look at the cases and then we can talk about this again.” It was Tony who ended the call before Gibbs could even reply.

“I never hear anyone talking to Leroy Jethro Gibbs like that.”

Tony’s head snapped up and he groaned. “Director.”

Tom Morrow smiled. “I’m glad that you didn’t try to apologize for what you said over the phone right now. Gibbs had that coming for a long time.” He reached out and slapped Tony on the arm.

“He handpicked you because he knew you can do the job, but I think he might’ve bitten off more than he can chew, but he’ll come around. Don’t back off, and if you believe you’ve got something then go with it.”

Tony merely nodded.

Tom looked around at the files that lay spread out all over the desks and stood in heaps on the floor. “Want to tell me what you’ve got?”

For a moment Tony thought of saying it was nothing, but then he started to talk, and the words and ideas flew right out of his mouth. Soon both men had moved everything to the large conference room on the second floor where they started working things out.

They only stopped when Tony’s stomach grumbled out loud.

Tom laughed as he glanced down at his watch. “No wonder you’re hungry, it’s almost 2300.”

Tony looked shocked. “Sorry, Sir, I didn’t mean to keep you here so long. I’ll get something to eat around the corner, you can go home.”

Tom shook his head. “No, we’re both going home. You’ve done enough for one night. Leave everything here as it is, and in the morning, you can have a go at it again.”

“No, I need…”

“No, that’s an order, Agent DiNozzo.” Tom didn’t hesitate one second to pull rank. He could see how dead tired Tony was. He had a few calls to make. Tony was right, they had a serial killer on their hands and by the look of things a very sophisticated one at it. If the calls he made turned out to help, he would make sure that DiNozzo stayed on the investigating team. It was his to close.

“Yes, Sir.” Tony packed up and together the two men left the building. Tony didn’t even object when the director made him drive with him and his driver dropped Tony off at his apartment. He would take a bus back to the Navy yard in the morning.

Tony didn’t even get anything to eat. Instead, he got into his apartment, kicked off his shoes, removed his jacket and tie and collapsed on his bed. Within mere minutes he was fast asleep.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

It was the persistent knocking at his door that woke Tony up from the dead. He tumbled out of bed, crashed to the floor. “Fuck,” he grunted as he held his head where he managed to clip it against the bedside table. “Ouch,” he groaned as he rolled around ignoring the continuous knocking. He prayed that whoever was at the door would leave. His head throbbed and he had a feeling if he took his hand away, he might see his brain seep from his head. He didn’t want to see his brain – not so early in the morning. Except that he had no idea if it was early in the morning. Tony forgot about the time as the pain in his head spiked again as he rolled to his knees.

The knocking stopped and Tony sighed out of relief. He sagged down onto stomach and stayed in position. His knees ached from his tumble, but it dulled in comparison to his head, or his eye, or both. Now that the fog started to clear from his mind, he was unsure on where it really hurt, it did hurt, at least of that he was sure.

A shriek to his immediate left had him topple over. Tony yelped in pain as he landed on his left funny bone and immediately realized that his head wasn’t aching anymore. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he hissed as he tried to cradle his arm and hoped at the same time that his elbow and his arm were still attached to his body.

“Tony, Tony? Are you all right? What happened, do I need to call 911?” A hand landed on his shoulder and if it wasn’t for the fact that his muddled brain finally figured out who the hell it was that was with him in his bedroom, Penelope might’ve found herself dead and that would’ve been a tragedy.

“Penelope?” Tony had no idea where he found his voice. He groaned again, bit down on his bottom lip and hoped that he would be given the opportunity to die, just die. Unfortunately, it seemed that he was meant to continue to live.

“What happened? You all right? Did you hurt yourself?”

Tony could hear her triple around in the room, her platform shoes echoed through his head as she went from the one side of the room to the other.

“Penelope,” Tony managed to groan.

“Tony?”

“Stand still, please.” He held his breath.

“Oh, oh, okay.” Penelope came to a halt.

“Thank you,” Tony sighed. He wanted nothing more than to let the arms of Morpheus gather him up and take him away, but his head or eye (he’s still unsure which one) and his elbow wouldn’t let him. No, they clearly had other ideas as their throbbing intensified. He had to wake up, see what the damage was and then find out why his Penelope currently occupied his bedroom.

Tony slowly rolled to his side. Penelope moved.

“No moving,” he grunted out.

“Sorry, not moving.”

Tony nodded and then managed to roll back onto his knees. He knew he had to straighten his arms, lock his elbows and push himself up. Sounds easy – not. It took him three turns before he could get his smacked elbow to stay locked and another two turns before he managed to push himself up and stand on his own two legs.

His legs threatened to wobble, his vision blurred as he opened his eyes, but he steeled himself and he remained upright. Tony gingerly opened his eyes, which he hasn’t even realized he had closed and blinked a few times. He was grateful when his vision cleared up and even more grateful when he realized that his face felt free from blood and or his brain oozing out.

Tony turned his head and smiled. Penelope stood next to his bed like a marble statue, not even blinking an eye. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She still didn’t move.

“You can move,” Tony said as he realized that his head throbbed less now that he was on his own feet.

She gave two strides and then she was right next to him. “You all right?” Penelope reached out and gently touched his face.

He hissed at her touch but held still when she cradled his face with her hands.

“What happened?”

“Fell out of bed.”

Penelope’s eyes grew large. “For real?” She glanced the rumpled bed and then at him. “You fell because of my knocking?”

“Something like that.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry.” She gently kissed his brow. “It’s gonna turn blue, you didn’t lose consciousness?”

“No.” Tony remembered not to shake his head. It wouldn’t have been a good idea.

“You sure?”

“You asking if I have a concussion?”

She nodded.

“No concussion, I promise.” Tony reached up and felt his head. He could feel the bump above his left eye. Penelope was right, it was going to turn a nasty shade of blue.

“Can I get you some ice?”

“For my elbow, please.”

“Tony?” Penelope inquired confused.

“Hit my funny bone, it hurts.” He tried to bend his arm but hissed and kept it at his side.

A giggle escaped from his friend and before Tony could help himself, he joined her in laughing as well. Unfortunately, his head didn’t appreciate the action and he groaned again.

“Sorry,” Penelope whispered as she kissed him on the temple and then moved out of his room, hopefully to get him some ice.

Tony sat down gingerly on his bed and looked down. He sighed. His suit pants and dress shirt were wrinkled beyond recognition. Luckily it would be the dry cleaner’s problem to get it wrinkle free again.

“I thought you slept in the nude?” Penelope handed him the ice pack wrapped in a dish towel.

Tony grinned at her. “I thought the two of us established that you don’t want to see me naked again and I don’t want you to see me naked again.”

She pinched his arm and returned his smile. “You know what I mean.”

“I do.” Tony placed his arm around her shoulder as she sat down next to him and hugged her close. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Tony spoke up again. “And do pray tell, why are you here so early in the morning? And for that matter in the middle of the week?”

Penelope gasped. “Oh pumpkin juice.” She rose to her feet. “It’s not that early, Tony, it’s past twelve and…” She didn’t get a chance to complete her sentence as Tony jumped from the bed.

“Shit, I’m late for work.” He made his way to the en suite even as he started to undress. “The director is going to kill me.” He closed the door behind him and flung his pants to the side. With one hand he turned on the shower while with the other he still tried to step out of his boxer briefs.

“You’re not late!”

“What?” Tony frowned. He stepped under the water and yelped as the ice water hit him right in the face. “Fuck!” He fumbled with the water until the cold got replaced by the hot. He sighed in relief.

“You’re not late!”

Tony heard the words again. “What do you mean I’m not late?” he shouted.

The bathroom door opened and for a moment he wondered if Penelope was going to come in, but when she spoke up, he could hear she was still on the other side of the door.

“You’re not late. Long story short. Your director spoke to my boss, we’re helping you with your case.”

Tony’s arms dropped to his side. He gasped for air. They took away his case.

“Tony?”

He leaned his head against the tiles. The water drops rained down on him, but he didn’t even feel it.

“Tony?”

He got yanked out of his stupor and shut the water down. His hand shook, but he ignored it. “Yeah, give me a moment.”

“Okay.”

As the door clicked close, he slid down the tiled wall and sat down heavily. He pulled his legs to his chest and rested his chin on his knee. “Fuck.” Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to hide for long in the bathroom, Penelope wouldn’t hesitate for a second to come in. But he had to get his emotions under control. It wasn’t the first time a case was taken away from him, he should’ve known something like that could happen.

He took some deep breaths, closed his eyes and became still. Tony sat like that for almost five minutes before he rose to his feet, grabbed a towel and dried himself off. He tied the towel around his waist, took a final deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom.

Penelope was not in his room and he let out a sigh of relief. He walked to his closet and opened it up. He was in need of his strongest suit of armor. He found what he was looking for with ease. He got out clean satin boxers, high quality cotton socks, a classic white cotton shirt with a French collar and the double-breasted pinstriped Armani suit. He rounded it off with a simple black pure silk tie before he donned a belt, made sure the small knife was hidden away and then took out his black laced up Oxford shoes to round off his look.

Tony took one last look in the mirror, took a deep breath and exited his bedroom. He found his friend in the kitchen where she placed a cup of steaming hot tea in front of him.

“You always look smart, but now you ooze pure sexiness, but on a very intimidating level, if I might add.” She blinked a few times. “Not even my chocolate muffin can pull off this look.”

Tony managed to smile and the fact that Penelope didn’t call him out on it meant that he pulled off a very fake smile because on the inside he was dead. He took a sip of his tea as she continued to chat away.

“The team was very excited to hear about your case. Director Morrow only gave the basics to Hotch, but I know that they are hooked. They can’t wait to start working on it.”

“When do they want all the files?” Tony heard himself asking as he sipped his own tea.

“As soon as you can get it over to Quantico.” Penelope smiled. “That’s why I’m here.”

“You drove for more than an hour form your work to my apartment for files?” It seemed like the FBI was really desperate to get their hands on his case.

“No, no, nothing like that.” Penelope shook her head. “Hotch told me, or should I say, ordered me not to bother you before lunch time, and that’s what I did.”

“Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know me.” Tony asked with a frown.

“Maybe not personally, Tony, but I can promise you, he knows about you.”

Penelope’s statement ruffled Tony’s feathers. “What, he likes to listen to stories spread around through the grapevine?” Tony pushed his mug away and got to his feet. “Let me box up those files for you.”

“What? No.” Penelope shook her head. “That’s not how it is.”

“You know what, I don’t really care. I’ve got more than enough work to keep me busy. Let me box up everything for you and you can be on your way.” Tony turned his back and made his way over to his dining room where he started packing everything up.

“Tony,” Penelope got to her own feet as she pranced after him. She came to a halt at the arch between the dining room and the kitchen.

He ignored her as he packed up the files. For a moment he wanted to include his notes, but then decided against it. They were the BAU after all, they could figure out everything on their own, they didn’t need his input.

“Tony,” she tried again.

Tony’s phone chirped in his pocket and he took it out. It was a stupid message for insurance, and he decided to use it to his advantage. He no longer wanted to talk to Penelope. “The office is looking for me.” He put the lid on the box and picked it up. He carried it to his door. “Let me get my service pistol and then I can walk you out.” He placed the box down next to the door and retrieved his weapon from the safe as well as his credentials.

“You got everything?” Tony didn’t give her a chance to respond as he opened the door for her and then picked up the heavy box. “This is everything I have. It’s not much, but your team will get more. I am sure of that.” He locked the door behind them and started to walk to the elevator, giving Penelope no choice but to follow.

They took the elevator down to the ground floor where he placed the box in her car, gave her a single kiss on the cheek and hurried off to his own car. Not once did Tony give her a chance to talk and he sped off even before Penelope could get into her own car.

Penelope stood next to her car and looked after her friend. Something had gone wrong between the two of them, but she had no idea what. Her phone rang in her handbag and by the time she’d finished the call the issue between herself and Tony was placed on the back burner. The team had a new case and they needed her.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony had all the intentions of going into the office, but then decided against it. The orange walls didn’t seem appealing to him and since it was almost three already, he decided not to. He would say that he was following up on a lead, but on the other hand, no one would ask him where he was and at this stage after what had happened in his apartment, he couldn’t give a damn.

Tony found himself in a small coffee shop a few minutes away from the office, one that few people knew about, but one that served the best chocolate cake in town. In the shop he took his usual spot at the back with a good view out of the large window while he could still see who came into the shop. Tony placed his order and then he leaned back in his chair. It seemed that even the director Morrow had come to the conclusion that Tony wasn’t good at what he did. As he took a bit of the moist cake, Tony reached a decision. He would submit his resignation the following day.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Aaron Hotchner wasn’t a man who carried his emotions on his sleeves. He rarely cracked a smile, unless he knew you, and he knew that most people found him too much. It didn’t bother him one bit. But seeing Garcia coming into his office, her eyes puffy red, the tear streaks still clearly visible on her cheeks tucked at his heart strings. He might not have been with the unit for very long, but she’d already carved herself into his heart. He came quickly to his feet.

“What’s wrong?” He walked around his desk and guided her to the visitor’s chair. He took the one next to her.

“Garcia?” he asked, concerned.

She sniffed. “Sorry, Sir.” She reached for a tissue and dabbed her cheeks. “I think I messed up.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Why do you think that?” Hotch frowned.

Penelope took a deep breath. “I went to Tony’s apartment and he fell out of bed and he hit his funny bone and then he acted strangely and he packed up everything he had and he didn’t even say goodbye to me and he left,” she rambled off the words as she started to sob.

Hotch frowned. He was missing something very important about this whole story, because what Garcia told him didn’t make sense. He hated to admit it, but he wasn’t very fluent in speaking Penelope Garcia and he couldn’t even ask Morgan or Spencer to help out as both men were out of the office.

“I’m sorry, Garcia, but you’re not making any sense. Is Agent DiNozzo hurt?”

She nodded, but then she shook her head. “Yes, no, I don’t know.” She hiccupped. “He was fine until he wasn’t. I tried to tell him that we’ve been called in to help him with his case and I think something happened when I told him, but I’ve got no idea what I did wrong. I didn’t intend to upset him, he looked so yummy in that suit of his, but my Chocolate Muffin is correct, Tony dresses up in layers of armor, and when he got out of his bedroom, he was locked in the toughest armor he possessed, and I don’t know why. It must be because of me; I did something wrong.”

Hotch managed not to sigh. He still was clueless about what she really meant, but he had a feeling it had to do with the fact that Tom Morrow approached him and Dave very early in the morning and gave them a file which had all the markings of a serial killer. He had one request and that was that his agent should stay on point during the investigation. He’d objected against it, but Rossi came up for the agent and they then decided to adhere to the single request.

When he’d told the team about the case, Garcia immediately said she would collect the files and make sure that the agent knew that they’d be waiting for him the next day. Even Spencer and Morgan looked happy with the fact that they’d be working together with the NCIS agent. He’d made a mental note to talk to Rossi about the agent again, but unfortunately the chance to do that didn’t materialize. It was something he planned on doing before the man joined them.

“Okay.” And then he had no idea of what more to say. Aaron found himself frowning. “However, I don’t think you did anything wrong. There might be a simple explanation for his behavior. From what I’ve learned, you know him very well. You then know when to approach him again. Do that when the time is right and, hopefully, you’d be able to clear everything up.”

She hiccupped one more time, dabbed her eyes again and lifted her gaze to meet his. “You sure?” She smiled. “Of course, you’re sure, Sir. You’re always sure.” Penelope rose to her feet. “Thank you, Sir.” She moved towards the door.

“Oh, before I forget. The box with the files is in the briefing room. I’ll scan everything and send it to your tablets. I know Derek and Reid will be back tomorrow morning, it will be ready before then.”

Aaron gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Garcia.” He looked on as she tripled out of his office and disappeared down the corridor. He sat down heavily behind his desk. Aaron gazed up when he heard a soft chuckle at his door. He smiled when he saw Rossi leaning against the frame.

“That funny to you?” He motioned for the man to enter.

Dave shook his head, but the smile remained on his face. He took the seat vacated by Garcia moments earlier. “I have to compliment you, Aaron. You handled that perfectly.”

“You heard every word.”

“Indeed.” Dave frowned.

“What’s bothering you?” Aaron rose to his feet again and walked over to the side table where a carafe with a golden liquid stood together with a couple tumblers. He picked up the bottle and showed it to his friend. When the man nodded, he poured them both a single and brought the two tumblers over to his desk. Luckily, it was already past five in the afternoon.

“I met Antony DiNozzo in 2000. He’d just started out in Baltimore, but already made a name for himself in Peoria and Philadelphia. He had a good captain in Baltimore who referred him to us. He’d come across a serial killer.” Rossi frowned. “He has the most natural instincts of a profiler I’ve ever seen. You know we can teach someone to be a profiler; DiNozzo is a natural one. Don’t get me wrong, he can still be taught a lot, but he’s got it and with the right guidance, Aaron, he’ll be one of the best profilers in the country. We’ve been head hunting him ever since then. He turned us down and went to NCIS.”

Aaron nodded. Now he finally connected the dots. He was aware of the agent that the higher-ups wanted on the BAU team. He also knew Dave was keeping something else from him.

“But?” Hotch knew his best friend.

“But he’s got enough baggage to start his own luggage store.” Dave shook his head. “He hides behind masks and if you’re not careful, you’ll never get to know the real man.”

“Garcia mentioned something about armor.”

“Yes, his suits. She’s correct. His suits are part of his armor, an integral part of it to be exact. And of course, Gideon had to be the ass that we all know he is, and he rubbed the man totally the wrong way. But despite that, DiNozzo stayed professional and bagged his killer. And boy, his interrogation technique, I would be able to watch him for hours on end.”

“He sounds perfect.” Aaron rolled his eyes.

Dave laughed. “No, trust me, Hotch, he’s not. He’s got a temper on him, he can be very egotistic, almost to the extent of being a narcissist, except that he’s not. It’s all part of his armor. Inside, he’s lonely, got some huge daddy issues, and is totally insecure.”

“You really like him.” Hotchner cocked his head.

“And I’m not the only one. He and Spencer can talk for hours about any topic in the universe, but he also runs circles around Derek on the basketball court. He had a full ride to Ohio State.”

“Degree?”

“Physical Ed.”

Aaron cocked his head. “He can’t be a federal agent with only that.”

Dave shook his head. “That’s the only one he tells people about, but I know of two others, and he’s busy with his PhD in Criminology.”

“You want to mentor him professionally.”

Dave nodded. “I am sort of mentoring him, but the more I think about it, the more I’m of the opinion that you’d be the perfect mentor for him.”

Aaron held up his hands. “No, I’m not interested.”

“Come one, Aaron, you don’t even know the man.”

“And from what you told me about him, he seems to be more than a hand full.”

Dave smiled. “That he is indeed. You’ll see when you meet him. Anthony DiNozzo is really one of a kind.”

“That’s if we’re going to meet him. Seems he was a bit upset that Garcia came and collect all of the evidence and brought it here.”

“I heard that. There must be a misunderstanding. Anthony would love our input, especially if he knows that he’s on to something that no one else can see.”

“Then I suggest that you phone him and make sure he’s here tomorrow morning at eight.”

Dave smiled. “No, I’ve already made sure that Garcia forwards his number to you. I think it’s logical for the head of the BAU team to phone Special Agent DiNozzo to make sure he’s here tomorrow morning.” Dave didn’t give his friend an opportunity to respond. Instead, he rose to his feet, placed his empty tumbler down and with a wave of his hand exited the office leaving a speechless Aaron Hotchner behind.

Aaron smiled and shook his head. Dave had played his cards well. He would phone the agent and make sure the man came to them the following morning. He couldn’t help it, he was intrigued by the picture Dave sketched for him, but that was something he would never admit to.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**NCIS Bullpen: The following Morning**

Tony clicked left with the mouse and heard the copier behind him warming up. It was a sound not normally heard, but since it was only four in the morning, the lack of other sounds made the copier sound much louder than it really was.

He yawned as he rose to his feet and walked around his cubicle to grab the two copies of his resignation from the machine. He read it through even though he knew it was free of any mistakes and took it back to his desk. He didn’t have a good night, as sleep evaded him. That was one of the reasons why he was so early at work.

Tony sat down heavily and reached for a pen. He frowned when he found none on his desk. He sighed. He hadn’t even opened his top drawer when he’d gotten into the office to type out the letter. He opened it now and as he reached for the pen, his gaze landed on the business card he’d placed there almost a week before. Graham Du Monte. His father’s business partner. The pen forgotten; Tony picked up the shiny card. He’d forgotten about the man, although he didn’t forget about the fact that his father had died. He still hadn’t told anyone, not even Gerald or Penelope for that matter. Not that it would make a difference. He rarely, if ever, spoke about Senior, and maybe it was a good thing that he didn’t tell them. Now they couldn’t tell him how sorry they were. Sorry about what, he didn’t know. He wasn’t sorry. He hadn’t spoken to the man in over seven years. It didn’t matter that the man was dead. Yet, he couldn’t put the card down. Tony made an attempt to tear the card up, but then he pushed it into his suit pocket. He would phone the man later and hear what he wanted. At least he knew they couldn’t hold him responsible for any debts his father made. It had nothing to do with him.

Tony shook his head and concentrated on the letter again. He only had to sign it, place it in envelopes and make sure to leave one on the Director’s secretary’s desk and the other on Gibbs’ desk. He would leave his credentials and weapon at security.

The phone in his pocket rang and he dug it out. “Very Special Agent DiNozzo.” He cringed at his own words. Silence greeted him and Tony frowned.

“Hello?”

_“I do apologize.”_ The voice on the other side sounded confused.

_“Did you say very special agent?”_

“Yeah, sorry, it’s an inside joke. It’s just special agent.” Tony didn’t add that it wouldn’t be his title for much longer. There was something about the man’s voice that intrigued him.

_“Well, Special Agent DiNozzo, you’re speaking to SSA Aaron Hotchner. I would like to make sure that you will be attending a meeting at our BAU offices at eight this morning so that we can discuss your serial killer.”_

Tony nearly dropped the phone when he heard who he was talking to. He was grateful that the man could not see the fumble from the other side of the phone. When he heard what the senior agent told him, it ruffled his feathers. “Aren’t you a bit premature in calling it a serial killer, Sir?” At least he remembered his manners.

_“Are you suggesting that it’s not one, and that you will be wasting our time, but more importantly, you wasted your own time?”_

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I know it’s a serial killer, but surely you can’t take it on my word only.” Tony heard a sigh from across the line and he wondered if the man rolled his eyes at him.

_“I can promise you, Agent DiNozzo, that I am up to speed with your case. I do not utter statements like the one I made to you, lightly.” _

“Oh.” Tony was rendered speechless. He swallowed hard. “Well if you’re up to date with the case, then I don’t understand why you need my input. You are actually the head of the BAU. You and your team are capable in handling the case on your own.” Tony made a note to himself that he needed to add the other six files that he’d dug up. His tally now stood at ten victims, one killer.

Silence greeted him from the other side of the line. Tony took his phone and looked at the screen. The call was still connected. When the voice sounded up through the speaker, he placed it back against his ear.

_ “It seems like I was mistaken, Agent DiNozzo. I was placed under the impression that you will be the lead in this investigation and that we’ll be assisting you as mere consultants. The only reason why everything was brought to our office was because we’ve got more space to consult. I will inform Director Morrow of the misunderstanding and we will take point on this investigation.”_

Tony wanted to respond when his phone got pulled from his hand. His eyes grew large when he saw Morrow in front of him. It seems the director heard the reply from SSA Hotchner.

“That will not be necessary, Agent Hotchner. Agent DiNozzo will be at your offices at 0800.” Morrow ended the call.

Tony lowered his head. He was immune against Gibbs’ stares, but after the one directed at him by the director, he had a feeling Gibbs could go and take lessons from the man.

“I am unsure of what stunt you’re trying to pull, DiNozzo, but that’s not going to work. This is your case; you will run point on it.”

“I’m resigning.” Tony handed the letter to Morrow. He looked on as the man took the letter and read through it. He frowned when he saw Morrow smile.

“I’m not accepting this.” He tore the page up. “Do your work, Agent DiNozzo.” He walked away.

Tony stood behind his desk and fumed. He wanted to commit murder, but simultaneously he felt proud of himself. The director thought him capable enough to head a serial killer investigation with the BAU consulting. At the same time, he couldn’t believe that the man tore up his resignation. Tony looked at the second envelope on his desk. He could give this one to the man again, but he had the feeling he’d get the same result. In a way it lifted his spirit. Tony looked at his watch. It was an hour’s drive to Quantico. If he wanted to be in time, he needed to go. He picked up his go bag, made sure he had his sidearm and credentials and then headed to the elevator. Not once did he look up. If he had, he might’ve noticed Morrow standing on the mezzanine level looking down at him with a smile on his face.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Quantico: BAU offices**

Aaron stood with his arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame and looked down at the rest of the team as they laughed and joked together. They were a great bunch of people and it was an honor to lead them. He turned when Dave joined him.

“You spoke with DiNozzo?”

Aaron glared at his friend.

“What?” Dave asked with a smile.

“Is he always so, so…” Hotch shrugged. “I can’t even think of a word to describe the man. He answered the phone as very special agent DiNozzo. Really, _very special_?”

Dave laughed out loud. “There’s actually a very good story behind that, but DiNozzo tells it much better than me. You’ll have to ask him.” He became serious. “Is he coming?”

Aaron nodded. “Not because he wanted to. Morrow seemed to have walked in on him while he was on the phone with me. He told me that DiNozzo would be here. What transpired between them after the call, I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry. Tom knows how to deal with DiNozzo. I mean, that man has been dealing with Agent Gibbs for more than ten years.” Dave slapped Aaron on the shoulder. “You want to start things with the team before DiNozzo arrives?”

“Yes. I think that would be for the best.” Aaron stepped up to the railing and looked down. “We’ve got a case. Briefing room in five.” He watched as the team’s demeanor changed from joking around to the professional team they were. Aaron moved away from the railing and made his way to the briefing room himself.

He came to a halt in the room. Although he wasn’t surprised to find Garcia in the room, he was surprised to see how somber she looked. He had a feeling that DiNozzo was responsible for her glum look. He wondered what Spencer, but more importantly, Morgan would say about this. Garcia looked up and gave him a small smile. “You doing all right?”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you.” She indicated to the files stacked on top of each other. “Everything is ready for the team.”

“Thank you.” He moved out of the way when he heard movement behind him. Aaron stood in the door as first, Emily Prentiss, then their media liaison officer, Jennifer Jareau entered the room. They were followed in by Derek Morgan and Doctor Spencer Reid. Dave was the last to arrive and when he reached the door, Aaron moved into the room and took his usual seat at the round table.

He waited for everyone to take their seats, before he spoke up. “We’ll be consulting on a possible serial killer case.”

“Why only consulting?” Emily asked with a frown.

“It’s a sister agency’s case and NCIS will be on point,” Hotch replied.

“Who’s the agent?” Spencer leaned forward.

Aaron looked at Garcia to see if she would supply the answer, but when she remained silent, he spoke up. “Agent DiNozzo.” He looked on as both Spencer and Morgan grinned from ear to ear.

“Brilliant.” Spencer grabbed the top file, opened it up and started reading.

“That’s all you’re going to say?” Derek teased his friend with a smile. “I thought you would at least tell us what the two of you will be yammering about when he gets here.”

Spencer returned his friend’s smile. “I don’t want to make you jealous. I mean the only thing the two of you will be doing if there’s time, is to run around on a court after a ball.”

Derek placed his hand over his heart. “You killed me.” He laughed. “But that’s also true.” He rolled his eyes when Spencer nodded at him. He watched as their boy genius picked up the second file. “Anything interesting?”

Spencer gazed up. “Give me a minute.” He grabbed the third file and after reading that in record time, he grabbed the next one. There was a frown etched on his face.

“What’s wrong, Pretty Boy?” Derek leaned forward in his chair. He himself had opened his tablet and had started to read the first file.

“This unsub is very meticulous; kills only three times a year and I have a feeling we need to do a deep background check on each victim. He’s choosing them for something that happened in their past. That’s why there’s a sins’ offering at each crime scene.” He looked up at Penelope and smiled when she nodded at him. He knew she would start the run immediately.

“And the different methods of death, is that linked to their past as well?”

The group looked up when a voice spoke up from the door.

“Tony.” Spencer was the first to get to his feet. Where he normally avoided physical contact with most people, he was the one who initiated the hug with Tony.

Derek had also stood up and when Spencer moved back, he reached out to shake Tony’s hand, but then pulled him close and hugged him to his chest. He whispered something in his ear, too soft for anyone else to hear, but for a moment Tony leaned with his head against Derek’s shoulder before he stepped back again.

Derek placed a bracing hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Now before you and Spence start rambling on, let me introduce you to our boss, SSA Aaron Hotchner.” He turned to the man. “Hotch, this is very special agent Anthony DiNozzo.”

“It’s just special agent DiNozzo.” Tony smiled but it was not a smile any of his friends were used to. It was almost fake. Tony stepped forward, breaking the contact Derek had on him and reached out with his hand. He held the box of the newest linked cases underneath his left arm. “SSA Hotchner.” He nodded. He took in the rest of the room and greeted the remaining members.

“You asked if the method of death links to the victims’ past?” Aaron brought the group’s attention back to the case.

Tony nodded.

“Why do you think so?”

Tony shrugged. He knew he should be able to respond. He knew the answer, but seeing SSA Hotchner in person made him tongue tied, and when he greeted the man, it felt like a thousand volts passed through their interlinked hands. Never before in his life, did he experience such a reaction towards another person.

“You must have some idea, Anthony.” Dave spoke up for the first time. He made a mental note to speak to the kid, there was something off about him. He could clearly see it in his body language. The fact that Anthony was dressed to kill, made him aware (and he knew both Spencer and Derek picked up on it as well), that Tony had dressed up to protect himself. The kid’s eyes were guarded, and he looked sad. Something that he’d seen very rarely from DiNozzo.

Tony watched the man who addressed him. David Rossi was a mentor to him. Unfortunately, he rarely had time to spend it with the Italian. He knew it was not only their professional life that got in the way, but since he had started at NCIS, more importantly, since he had realized he had a crush on Gibbs, he stayed away from his friend. He knew what Rossi thought about Gibbs. It wouldn’t surprise him if Rossi ended up cornering him before the day came to an end.

“I do believe that the method of death in each case is indeed linked to that specific victim.” Tony placed the box on the table and pushed his hands into his pockets.

Spencer nodded. “I agree. Something had happened in all of these victims’ past and it has a direct link to the way they were killed.”

“These victims are from different walks of life. How does the unsub get this information?” Prentiss spoke up again.

“Garcia will come up with that link when she’s done with her deep background check on all the victims. Something will pop up, it always does.” Derek smiled.

“What is your profile on the killer, Agent DiNozzo?” Aaron leveled his gaze on the agent. He knew it was a bit early to deliver a profile, but he wanted to see what the NCIS agent came up with. Aaron didn’t miss the small nod Dave gave DiNozzo.

“Prolific, confident, patient.” Tony looked around. “I don’t want to label him, but I see him as having a compulsive disorder.” He stared at the door. “The distance of the pigeon to the body, the exact angle at each crime scene. To me it speaks compulsion. Saying that, I have to say he’s highly organized. Intelligent. Male, late thirties, early forties. The leaving of the headless pigeon at the scene, at the same distance from each victim clearly makes that his signature.” He took a deep breath. “Another reason for the dead pigeons to be at the scene is because they’re part of what I want to label a sin offering. The only aspect that I’m unsure of, and I think it’s the missing piece to this whole puzzle, is if the offering is for him or for the victims.”

“In which way?” Aaron made a note.

“If the pigeons are part of a sin offering, then either he’s asking for forgiveness for killing his victims, or he’s leaving the pigeons because he’s asking for forgiveness on behalf of the victims for what they’ve done wrong.”

“Which one do you believe is to be the more likely scenario?”

Tony shook his head. “I can’t say. There’s not enough information for me to reach a conclusion on that.”

“I agree with you.” Aaron rose to his feet. “I have another meeting to attend to, but please, continue here. I will join you later.” He turned his attention to Dave. “Join me for a minute, please.”

“Sure,” Dave got up from his chair and followed the unit leader out.

Neither man spoke up until they reached Hotch’s office.

“Something on your mind, Hotch?”

Aaron cocked his head. “We spoke about you mentoring DiNozzo, but he’s already like a son to you.”

“And you’ve got a problem with that?” Rossi crossed his arms.

“No, but I’ve never imagined that something like that be possible with you.”

“You mean in light of how Gideon treated Spencer.” Dave sighed. “That young man in our briefing room, Hotch, is more insecure on an average day than what Spencer has ever been.”

“I didn’t pick up on that.”

“You won’t.”

“Derek noted it.”

Dave nodded. “He always does.”

“That’s why you say he’s perceived as being a narcissist.”

“Yes, because he overcompensates too much. He would rather be seen as the fool or being too full of himself, than being ridiculed.”

Hotch nodded. “There’s something else you’re not telling me.”

Dave cocked his head. “I think I’ll keep that to myself for a little bit longer.” He smiled when his friend glared at him. “You know you don’t intimidate me.”

“I know.” Aaron sighed. “I’ve got a meeting with the director; I’ll be back down as soon as I can.”

“Sure, I’ll keep the fort.” He stood to the side and let his friend pass.

“Dave?” Aaron turned around.

“Yeah?”

“Is he single?”

Dave threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, Hotch, he’s single.” He didn’t even ask how Aaron knew that Tony would be interested in men.

“Good.” Aaron smiled and walked away.

Dave looked at his friend and continued to smile as he made his way back to the briefing room. It seemed like this serial killer of Anthony came just at the right time.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony watched the team of FBI agents before him. It’s been a few years since he last worked with them. Prentiss still looked like she would shoot him without bashing an eyelid while he couldn’t understand why Jareau remained the media liaison. She should’ve been a profiler ages ago.

“Did you not understand the question, Agent DiNozzo?”

Tony shook his head. “No SSA Prentiss, I did. Do I see the killer as mission oriented?” Tony shrugged. “It’s a term I’m not comfortable in using. Aren’t all serial killers’ mission oriented? Why do we need to label them in such a way when their victims are a certain type? I mean, they kill because to them, those people need to die. That on its own already makes them a class on their own. But then to answer your question. No. None of the victims were of the same race, background, gender or even shared the same belief. The only thing they have in common, except that they’re dead, is that they are either linked directly or indirectly to the Navy or the Marines.”

“Shouldn’t that tell you that he’s indeed mission oriented?” Prentiss leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table.

“No. The moment Penelope…” Tony looked up and caught her eye for the first time he walked into the room and smiled. “The moment she starts digging she’s going to find a whole lot more cases. The only reason why it seems like he’s targeting the Navy or Marines, is because NCIS deals with those homicides and we’re a small agency. There are seven police districts in the D.C. area alone. Last year, there were two-hundred-and-sixty-two homicides. The possibility that the killer has left headless pigeons all over the city, can’t be ignored.”

“Making the number of cases you predicted a mere fraction of the total.” Spencer looked up.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Tony tapped against the box he brought with him. “I also found another six cases that we can add.”

“Total ten?” Prentiss took the box from the table and handed it to Garcia. Their analyst would make sure they got copies of the new cases ASAP.

Tony nodded.

“And with over two-hundred homicides, it will make our task in finding the killer more difficult.” Derek threw his pen down on the table.

“Never thought you’d back down from a challenge, Morgan.” Tony grinned when his friend rolled his eyes at him.

“In your dreams, DiNozzo.” Derek returned the grin.

“Let’s concentrate on the files in front of us.” Prentiss brought their attention back to the work. “We will have a look at the newest cases later on. Let us focus on those we have right here now. We’re in the unfortunate position not being able to attend the crime scene, so we’ll have to work from the files.”

“Yes, I don’t really want to wait for him for another three months before he strikes again.” Tony opened his own copy of the file. It was the Joseph Bowen case. The one case he knew almost nothing about. Hopefully a few sets of extra eyes would pick up on something that he might’ve missed.

“But if that is the case and he really only strikes three times a year, then you might have all the cases.” Jennifer spoke up from the side. She was on her way out of the office, not being needed to read the files herself.

Tony shook his head. “There is a possibility that he has multiple victims each time. We just don’t know about them – yet.”

“It makes sense.” Jennifer smiled.

“Yes, best case scenario, thirty cases – worst case – undefined number of cases. And it’s the second part of that scenario that bothers me the most.”

“It bothers all of us, Tony, but we’ll find this unsub.” Derek reached over and slapped Tony on the shoulder. He then looked up at the woman who meant the world to him. “Garcia?”

“Yes?” She looked startled for a moment.

“You all right?” Derek rose to his feet. He’d noticed that there was some sort of strain between Penelope and Tony and couldn’t help but wonder what that was about. The two of them were normally two peas in a pot.

“Yeah, simply thinking about this newest monster we’re dealing with.”

Derek nodded. He knew it was hard for Penelope to deal with the darkness of their work on a daily basis. “I understand, it’s difficult.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Think you can start doing a run for us? That’s after you’ve added those to our tablets.” He indicated the box she now held in her hands.

“Sure, tell me what you need.” She smiled, but it was a sad smile.

“Dig up any possible cases where there was a reference made to dead or headless pigeon over the last twenty years?” He looked at Tony.

“I don’t really want it to be more than twenty, but maybe we should broaden our search from 1990?” Tony responded but he kept his gaze on Penelope. He could see that she was hurt by his behavior the day before and he knew that he would have to make things right with her.

“I can do that.” Penelope nodded. “I’ll get started right on it.”

“Also, Garcia, start a deep search on our different victims. There must be something in their past that overlaps that makes them all connected to our unsub,” Spencer spoke up as he reached for the last file. It was Tony’s case of Tom Bradshaw.

“On it,” Penelope answered as she trotted out of the room to her private domain. She smiled when she met Rossi in the doorway and then disappeared down the hallway.

The team of four FBI agents and one NCIS agent settled in and started working through the files again.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Dave looked up from the file he was reading when Tony squirmed again. He smiled softly. He’d forgotten how Tony was unable to sit down for long periods of time without moving. His gaze landed on Morgan and they shared a smile.

“Hey, Pretty boy,” Morgan grinned at his best friend. “Is there a reason why you’ve not started with a map of our victims yet?”

Spencer looked up at the board, and his eyes grew huge. “Apparently I forgot.” He rose to his feet. “Want to help me?” He turned and glanced at Tony.

“Sure,” Tony responded as he leaped to his feet. As the two young men started putting the map together, Dave and Derek shared another grin.

It didn’t take long for the map to be completed. It was pretty bare, as it only contained the crime scenes, where each victim resided, and where each victim worked. There were no clear overlaps between any of them, except their involvement with the Marines and or the Navy. Tony’s shoulders sagged as he glared at the map. He knew there wasn’t going to be something, but it would’ve been great if something did jump out which he’d failed to see before.

“We’ll get him, Anthony.”

Tony turned back and acknowledged his mentor. “I hope it’s before he strikes again.”

“I found something,” Penelope’s voice sounded through the screen mounted on the wall.

“What do you have, Garcia?” Dave rose to his feet.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s good news.” She frowned as she looked down at her own computer screens. “It seems like Tony’s fear might become a reality. From the period 1990 until now I found a total of a possible seventy cases, all in the different police districts. I’ve yet to narrow it down any further, but all of these cases make reference to either dead pigeons or headless pigeons.”

Tony groaned and lowered his head. He lifted his gaze when a hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. He smiled at Spencer.

“Can you narrow it down to rule out those cases with multiple victims at each crime scene?” Prentiss looked at Tony.

“Yes, there would be no multiple victims. He’s working alone and the way he kills his victims makes me think he’ll never target a pair or a group of people.”

“Okay, doing that, give me one second.”

They could see her hands moving as she typed away.

She sighed and shook her head. “Reduced the number to sixty-three.”

Tony walked back to the map. “Each murder we’ve got happened either in March, July or November.” He watched as Dave nodded at him. “Penelope, can you narrow it down to murders in those months, please?”

“Doing that right now.” She lifted her head. “Down to thirty cases. First one in March 1993.”

“The sixteenth?” Tony’s eyes didn’t leave the map.

“Yes.”

Tony lowered his head. Their victim pool had just increased, and he couldn’t help to doubt if they would ever find their killer.

“It’s a good thing,” Spencer spoke up next to Tony.

“Why do you say that?” Tony kept on staring at his shoes.

“Because the possibility that he made a mistake has increased. We will find a lead in those cases that will lead us to our unsub.”

“Yeah? But you’re forgetting one thing.” Tony sighed. “We need to get all of those case files from the different districts. I know cops, they’re going to huff and puff, saying that we think they don’t know how to do their work. We’ll be lucky to get any of their co-operation in those thirty potential cases.”

“Don’t you worry about that, Agent DiNozzo,” Aaron spoke up from the door.

“Why not?”

“Because if there’s one thing Aaron is good at then it’s getting police precincts to co-operate.” Morgan explained.

“He stares at them and they hand it over.” Penelope giggled from the other side of the monitor. When the team turned to her, she blushed. “Sorry, didn’t mean it like that. Need to go.” The screen went dark, leaving the room in silence.

“Well, on that note, I think it’s indeed time that you go and glare at some precincts, Aaron. We’re going to need those case files ASAP.” Dave rose to his feet. “The rest of us will work through this.”

“Good idea. Take Tony with you, Hotch. He didn’t say it, but he’s actually well-liked by the men in blue.” Derek play pushed Tony towards the door.

A small smile appeared on Aaron’s face. “It seems like we got our orders, Agent DiNozzo. I would suggest that we get going. I’ll make sure that Garcia sends us all the information we need on the cases to my tablet. We can take one of our SUV’s.” He didn’t wait to see if Tony followed but strolled from the room.

Tony looked at Morgan and Dave. “Really?”

“Really,” both men answered simultaneously.

“You better go, Hotch, doesn’t like being kept waiting.” Spencer looked up from the file. He had a smile on his face.

Tony gasped and reached for his backpack. “Remember that I get Penelope to remove these knives from my back when I return.” He flipped them off when they laughed at him and then quickly headed down the stairs where he met up with SSA Hotchner at the elevators. Tony felt giddy. It was a feeling he never thought he would experience. He knew it wasn’t because he hadn’t eaten, but it was because of the fact that he’d be spending some alone time with Aaron Hotchner. There was something about the man that pulled at him. It was as if the man was the flame and he the moth. Tony could only hope that he won’t end up burning his wings.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Tony’s apartment**

Tony was dead on his feet by the time he made it back to his own apartment. He would’ve loved to take Morgan up on his invite to stay over at his house, but he’d received a text message that ruined his whole day. Gibbs would be back at the office tomorrow morning and he needed to report back in the bullpen. He wasn’t looking forward to that.

He readied himself for bed and tiredly got in between the high-quality sheets. Tony sighed tiredly. His mind drifted back to the day he’d had. It had been a productive one. Now that he had spent a day in the company of the BAU he was proud of himself for not letting the case go. They definitely had a serial killer on the loose.

Where he had been apprehensive in going with SSA Hotchner, sorry, Aaron to the different districts to make arrangement and pick up case files, it had become the true highlight of his day.

Aaron was quiet, something that had bothered Tony and he tried to make up for it by filling the silence with small talk, that was until the older man turned and looked at him. There had been a small smile on his face. “You can be yourself with me.”

That was all that the man had said. For a moment Tony had wanted to take exception to the words spoken to him, but he found himself nodding and then he’d settled back in his seat. The rest of the drive was filled with silence, nothing heavy, and definitely relaxing.

Don’t get him wrong, they did talk, they even had time to grab a bite for lunch, but it was on topics that interested both of them. They had plenty of things in common, for example, both of them loved running. Tony had found out that Aaron also loved playing ball and the man didn’t seem surprised at all when Tony told him he’d played basketball and football for Ohio State. He had a feeling the man either looked into him, or Rossi might’ve spilled the beans. In the end it didn’t matter, he had a good time. With that last thought, Tony finally drifted off to sleep.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Navy Yard: NCIS Bullpen**

It seemed to Tony that Gibbs had slept at the office, because when he got there after six, the grumpy ex gunnery sergeant was already there and in a foul mood. He had glared at Tony, didn’t even bother to return Tony’s greeting before he stormed off and disappeared to who knows where.

It had suited Tony fine. He’d gone to the break room, made himself a cup of tea and went back to his desk where he pulled out the last sets of notes he had made last night with the BAU before he headed home.

They had managed to obtain thirteen of those case files. The other seventeen would be sent to the BAU before the end of the day. Tony wished he could be there to go through them first, but at least Penelope assured him that she would make copies for him of all the cases as they came in. In the meantime, he’d have to talk to Gibbs, explain to the man what he had found and hopefully with Morrow’s backing continue with the headless pigeon murders. Tony cringed. There was a reason why government agencies like the FBI refused to hand out names to serial killers, it drew attention to their cases and in most instances, it was unwanted attention. The thing was, the name was very well suited.

He quickly became engrossed in the notes, losing sense of what was happening around him. The slap to his head came out of nowhere. Tony jump to his feet and before he could get himself to calm down, he lashed out, and punched Gibbs square in the face.

The older man stumbled backwards.

“Don’t you ever fucking hit me again!” Tony bellowed. “I’m not your fucking punching bag.” He got right into Gibbs’ face. “Lay a hand on me again and I will bring you up on charges.” He was aware that the bullpen around them has gone eerily quiet and that everyone was staring. Tony couldn’t give a damn.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he shrugged it off. “Don’t touch me.” He glared at the person behind him and his shoulders sagged when he saw who it was. Mike Balboa had a worried look on his face.

“Sorry,” he mumbled the apology.

“I will have your badge.” Gibbs had pressed a pristine white handkerchief against his split lip.

Tony wanted to respond, but an icy voice from above made him keep quiet.

“Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo, in my office, now.”

Tony looked up at the director and nodded. He walked past Gibbs and ignored the ogling people around. He took the stairs two at a time and entered Morrow’s office where he came to a halt in front of the desk. He didn’t have to wait long before Gibbs barged in and starting spewing.

Tony kept on staring straight ahead. He was fuming mad but kept his tongue. He knew the director would give him a chance to explain. He knew he shouldn’t have lost his temper and punched Gibbs, but at that moment he’d had enough.

Gibbs’ words penetrated his thoughts and he turned his head and glared at the older man. Gibbs took it as a challenge and stepped right into his personal space. Tony didn’t move back.

“He’s got his head in the clouds, dreaming about serial killers that kill pigeons instead of doing his job. Now I finally understand why he never lasted more than two years at any of the precincts. I want him off my team, Tom. I will no longer work with him.” Gibbs sneered at Tony, as he stood toe to toe with him.

“That’s enough, Agent Gibbs.” Tom had moved between his two agents and Gibbs had no choice but to step backwards.

“Why did you slap Agent DiNozzo on the back of the head?”

“Because he was daydreaming and doing it during working hours.”

Tom nodded. “How do you know he was daydreaming?”

“Because I had addressed him three times without him even acknowledging my presence. What sort of agent does that? We should be aware of our surroundings at all times.”

Tony wanted to speak up. Wanted to tell Gibbs that they were not in a warzone. They were housed in a secured government building and it came with a state-of-the-art security system and actual security officers. He didn’t need to be vigilant twenty-four-seven. He also had not been daydreaming, yes, he had been lost in his thoughts, but it hadn’t been because he had been daydreaming. There was a serial killer. The only one in denial was Gibbs. He balled his fists. Thinking of Gibbs and how he treated him made his blood pressure rise into the red.

“Agent DiNozzo? Your side of the story?”

“He attacked me, I acted in self-defense.”

“I didn’t attack you, I brought you back in line.”

Tony snorted and shook his head. “It’s not the first time you slapped me at the back of my head, Gibbs. I’ve asked you not to. Doctor Jackson talked to you about it, but you keep on doing it. I will no longer stand for it. It is assault and I’ve got the right to defend myself.”

Gibbs closed the distance between them again.

“That’s enough,” Tom barked out.

“I will not tolerate actions in my agency displayed by both of you today. There will be an internal investigation into this. Until this investigation is finalized, both of you are suspended. You will have no contact with one another or talk to any other agent or employee in this building. You will give your full cooperation with IA. Dismissed.” He took his seat behind his desk and refused to look up at either of his agents. He cringed when his door slammed shut. Although he didn’t see who it was, he knew without a doubt that it was Gibbs. The man was highly pissed.

Tom lowered his head in his hands. He had a vicious headache, and it wasn’t even nine in the morning. He couldn’t interfere with the IA investigation, but he would make sure that Tony didn’t get thrown under the bus because he was the junior agent. Thinking of the fact that he had to suspend both agents made him groan out loud. It meant his top team would be out of commission for a while longer and it also meant that Tony wouldn’t be able to work on his serial killer case with the BAU. Not in an official capacity in any way. Any evidence he obtained against the killer might be regarded as inadmissible if he worked on the case while still suspended. He only hoped that Tony would inform SSA Hotchner of the suspension. It would be the correct thing to do.

A knock on his door had him pulled out of his own musings and for the time being he put the suspension of his two agents out of his mind and concentrated on a very real terrorist threat.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Tony’s apartment**

**The following day**

Tony leaned back against the headboard; the sheet slipped down to his waist leaving his torso bared. He yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He could feel his head throbbed making him well aware of the fact that he had one hell of a hangover going.

Yes, he drove straight to the liquor store he frequented and bought himself two bottles of expensive whiskey. He was grateful for the ice maker he had in his apartment as he drank the whiskey neat with only a few blocks of ice to make sure the liquid was chilled.

Now, there was about a third of the second bottle left and he was suffering the consequences. But on the other hand, it wasn’t as if he had somewhere to be. Technically, he was jobless. Tony reached for his phone and had to squint before he could make out the time. It was after nine. He’d finally managed to fall asleep, (yes, he was refusing to say that he passed out) around five in the morning. The four hours of sleep he’d gotten were not merely enough.

Tony took the phone and wondered if he should phone the BAU, phone Derek, or Spencer or even Aaron and tell them of the suspension. But he didn’t want to. He felt ashamed. He shouldn’t have lost his temper like that, but it really was the last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Tony decided against phoning anyone. He’d made no arrangements to meet up with them today as they all knew Gibbs had returned yesterday. He would continue to work on the case from home and see what happened with the inquiry. If NCIS’ IA was anything like the police’s IA, they would be on his back even before the end of the day.

Moving very gingerly Tony got himself out of bed and took care of his morning needs before he took the time to make him a large mug of tea and settled down in his dining room to get a start on the investigation.

The first thing he did was to create a similar map as the one they’d put up at the BAU. He added the details from the files he and Hotch got and wasn’t surprised when he saw that Penelope had already added the information on their tablets. It also appeared that more of the old cases had arrived yesterday. From what he could see, there were only ten files outstanding. That was excellent news.

It took him longer than he thought it would, but finally he could stand back and take a look at the map. It no longer looked empty. It was filled with different pins, different colors and the one thing he noticed immediately, was that the pattern it made on the map, appeared to be circular.

Tony stepped closer to the map and took a hard look at it. Without looking away, he grabbed a notebook and a pencil and started scribbling down street names, building names, landmarks until he noted down every place that appeared in that radius in the middle of the map. He would have to check out every place and street on that map to see if he could find something that might be relevant to the case. It meant he was going to spend the next foreseeable future hunched over his laptop. At least IA wouldn’t have any trouble getting a hold of him.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony was right about internal affairs. His phone rang not even an hour later, and he made an appointment for twelve. He’d meet the investigator at his office. In the dungeon. Tony rolled his eyes at himself. It wasn’t really the dungeon, but it was sort of. It was one of the sub-level basements, but not dark or eerie. He hated knowing that he had to go down there.

Tony kept on working, going into the history of places, looking for any possible link between all of the victims and any of the places within the radius of the killings. When the reminder on his phone went off, Tony sat back. It was time he went to the office and got the interview out of the way. As he rose to his feet, his laptop pinged, and he looked down. One of the searches he ran was finished. It was on the history of an old abandoned church. The first thing he noticed was the fact that at one stage the medical examiner’s office records were stored there. Reading that made Tony take notice. Unfortunately, he’d have to look into it later. He really had to leave if he didn’t want to be late for his appointment.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**NCIS: IA Offices**

Agent Matters looked up at the knock on his door. “Come in,” he called out as he rose to his feet and buttoned up his jacket. He watched as the man walked in. “Agent DiNozzo, thank you for being on time.” He reached out with his hand. The agent had a good firm grip without trying to crush all the bones in your hand.

“Agent Matters,” Tony returned the greeting. He’d seen the IA agent around the building, greeted him, but other than that the two men didn’t have any real contact.

“Have a seat.” Matters indicated the chair in front of his desk.

“I thought we would be doing this in interrogation?” Tony asked as he took the offered seat.

“I hate that room.” Matters shivered.

Tony laughed. “I love it.”

Matters cocked his head. “Then another reason to stay away from it.” He kept his expression neutral.

“Ah, you want me out of my comfort zone, clever.” Tony leaned back.

Matters smiled, but then became serious. “You know your rights?”

“I do.”

“You know you have the right to a legal representative being present?”

“I do and I waive that right. I’m willing and able to make a statement and to answer questions on my own.”

“Okay. Let’s get started.” Matters opened the file in front of him. “Care to tell me what had happened?”

Tony sighed. “I lost my temper and I punched Agent Gibbs in the face.”

“Care to elaborate?” Matters made no notes. He hated making notes while he did interviews. It distracted both parties. He would rather get the story, ask clarifying questions if needed and then write it down. He would then read it back to the agent to make sure he got everything down correctly and then let the agent sign it.

For a moment Tony stared at the man before him. He wanted to shake his head, say no, but he knew if he did that, Gibbs would in all likelihood continue with the head slaps. He didn’t want to ruin the man’s distinguished career, but the slaps had to stop. It was unbecoming for an agent to act in such a manner and it was degrading towards Tony.

Tony took a deep breath and then he started to explain what had happened and why he’d finally snapped. He was grateful that the IA agent didn’t interrupt. He didn’t’ think he’d be able to tell it again.

Matters’ wanted nothing more than to plow his fists into Agent Gibbs’ face himself when DiNozzo filled him in about past events. But he also had to remain impartial and had to make sure he had all the facts before he could reach a conclusion and even make a recommendation.

“Agent Matters?”

Matters looked up. “Yes?”

“I know I’m guilty of assault and most likely I’m going to lose my job. I had no right to assault Supervisory Agent Gibbs, but I will not apologize for my actions.”

Matters nodded. He took up his pen and tapped it against the blank page. “How long after you’ve started working with Agent Gibbs, did he first slap you behind your head?”

Tony blushed. “That one I deserved.” He grinned. “I would’ve been here for approximately two months. There was a supermodel in the room and I couldn’t concentrate on my task. He slapped me once. It had kept me focused for the rest of the case.” He didn’t add that he tried to apologize and nearly got slapped again. It was on that day that he’d learned two important lessons. One, don’t let your concentration waver and two, if you apologize, you are weak. Never apologize. He was still of the opinion that the second lesson was wrong.

Matters cocked his head. “So you deserved it every time?”

“No.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest.

Matters asked a few clarifying questions and then wrote down what DiNozzo told him. He read it back to the agent and when DiNozzo was satisfied he signed it.

“Thank you again for coming in, Agent DiNozzo.” He rose to his feet.

“Do you know how long it will be before my fate is known?” He had to have an estimate of time in which he could still work on his case.

“I still need to conduct my interview with Agent Gibbs and then I need to write my report and make my recommendation.” He didn’t add that the older agent had blown him off twice already, and that if he couldn’t get hold of the senior agent by the end of the day, he was taking it up with his superiors. He wouldn’t hesitate to get the director involved if need be.

“I understand.” Tony rose to his own feet. “Thank you for giving me a chance to state my case.” It was Tony who reached out with his hand and greeted the IA agent before he took his leave.

“Agent DiNozzo?” Matters spoke up before Tony could exit the office.

Tony glanced over his shoulder.

“Please, make sure you stay available. I don’t want to drag this out.”

“I’ll make sure, thank you.” Tony nodded and then headed out. He reached for his phone and brought up the hits on the church he’d quickly downloaded before he left his apartment. It still amazed him that the beautiful church he’d seen on the photos stood abandoned. Since he was near the church, he would go and have a look himself. He might even find something useful.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Tony got out of his car and was impressed with the fact that he found parking only a few paces away from the large imposing building itself. It pained his heart to see the state of the once magnificent building. It was known as the Second United Church and was originally built in 1860.

The walls were sandstone and brick in a terra cotta color. The main façade was once decorated in marble, but unfortunately it had been stolen years ago. The large bronze doors no longer gleamed in the light, but now almost appeared a deep forest green.

Tony could faintly make out a mosaic image of what he believed to be one or other Saint, but he had no idea which one. Most of the mosaic tiles had long been lost. It had an old wooden dome, planks missing, but the cross on top still stood proudly at more than a hundred-and-fifty feet in height. There were also a lot of pigeons. And by a lot, it looked like there were at least four-hundred birds. The sight of the birds made Tony shiver, but he pushed the feeling down.

From what he gathered from the internet, the church itself was built in the form of a cross, and it could seat almost eight-hundred people.

To the left was an annex which he suspected had been church offices and Tony made his way over. There was no fence surrounding the church grounds, and he saw no security guard to whom he could talk. Hopefully he’d find someone on the grounds and get a chance to ask some questions, because the more he read about the history of the church, especially the last couple of years, the more Tony was convinced that the killer he was looking for had a connection to this church. More specifically, they had a connection to the medical examiner, who, after a flood at the end of 1989, archived their records here from that day, and subsequently forgot about it until a pencil pusher realized it and the old records were finally moved to a new archive site at the end of last month. By that time most of the files had been damaged in one way or another as there was no one officially who kept an eye on the paper copies.

Tony knew he still had no link between his victims and the medical examiner, except that they all ended up dead, but at this stage it was worth taking a look.

He rounded the corner and walked smacked bang into a man. Both groaned and stumbled backwards, luckily, they managed to keep to their feet.

“Sorry.” Tony reached out to make sure that the man stayed on his feet. The man jumped backwards.

“Don’t touch me,” he sneered.

“I apologize.” Tony took a proper look at the man. He was of average built, had copper colored hair, a faint dusting of freckles on his face and gray eyes. Tony estimated his age around forty to forty-five.

“What do you want here? This is private property.”

Tony kept his movements deliberate and slow as he reached for his credentials. He knew he wasn’t supposed to use them, but he had them when he went to the office and technically, he was still an agent, although he had no idea for how long.

“My name is Tony DiNozzo. I’m an NCIS agent.”

“What’s that?” The man frowned. He didn’t even take a look at Tony’s badge, or made an effort to introduce himself. 

“It’s the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We’re a federal agency and we investigate all criminal matters within the Navy and the Marine Corps,” Tony explained.

“You still don’t have any right to be here.” The man had moved away. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I only wanted information on the files of the Medical Examiner’s office that were stored here for a number of years.”

“It was taken away. It’s no longer here.”

Tony nodded. “I’m aware of that. Do you know if anyone had access to the files?”

“No.”

“No one at all?” Tony had to ask, although the answer made sense, especially since the files were forgotten.

“No.”

“Do you know where the files were kept?”

“Inside.”

Tony silently counted to ten. “Inside where?” He cocked his head.

“Basement.”

Tony nodded. “Can you show me the basement?”

“Why?”

He bit down hard on his tongue and could taste the copper in his mouth. “Just want to see how it looks like.”

“Why?”

“Listen, pal. I don’t have time to play twenty-questions with you,” Tony hissed as he moved closer. “Either show me the basement or stand aside so that I can find it myself.” He’d run out of patience. He would’ve loved to threaten the man with a warrant, but if he got called out, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

The man stared at him for a long time. His gray eyes showed no emotion before he finally nodded. “This way. Don’t touch anything.” He didn’t wait for Tony to respond but made an abrupt turn and marched off.

Tony had no choice but to follow. He had to jog to keep up.

They entered through what appeared to have been a side entrance. The office space was remarkably clean, deprived of any dust on the floor, or on any of the few scattered pieces of furniture still standing around. They marched through the office, into what appeared to be a hallway and before they stopped in front of a set of double doors.

“Through there.” The man pointed at the door.

“Can I go down there?” Tony asked. He frowned when he saw that his companion started to tremble.

“What did you say, what is your name?”

“Tony DiNozzo.”

“Anthony. No one is just born Tony.” He actually stuck his nose in the air, but at the same time he brought his hand up and tapped with his fingers against his chin as if he was counting something.

Tony remained silent. He stared at the man. Tony must’ve stared hard enough as the man turned and looked at him. For a moment he appeared startled as if he’d forgotten that Tony was there.

“Basement,” Tony’s voice was harsh in the silence around them.

A sly grin appeared on the man’s face. “Yes, the basement. Through there.” He pointed towards the double door.

“Yes, you showed me that before.”

“Then I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Go. You wanted to see the basement. There it is.”

“You aren't coming with me?” Tony remained where he stood.

“No. I am busy.” The man turned away and started walking off.

Tony looked at his retreating back and then started to walk towards the double doors.

“Are you afraid of fire, Anthony?”

Tony managed not to stumble as the man’s voice sounded up. He came to a halt as he reached the door. Tony placed his hand on the handle. “No.”

The man nodded. Without a further word he left and disappeared from Tony’s sight. “Creepy bastard.” Tony shivered, but then put the man out of his thoughts as he opened the door. A steep set of stairs lay before him going down. It was dark, but he saw the light switch on the right, and he flicked it on. He heard the hum of the florescent lights before it flickered on and the darkness at the bottom of the stairs gave way to dimmed light.

Tony’s footsteps echoed as he descended the stairs. At the bottom the room opened up and he wanted to describe it as a chamber. It was huge. No wonder the ME used the space to store their files. Even Gibbs’ boat would fit in this space, with space left for at least one other boat.

A few cabinets stood to the side and Tony moved towards them. They appeared to be unlocked and he pulled the top drawer open of the first one. A scrap of paper was left behind, and he picked it up. It appeared to be some sort of till slip. It had no value and he let it go and looked on as the piece glided back into the drawer. The rest of the filing cabinet was empty.

Tony moved on to the next, but as the first, the second was also empty. The third held nothing as well. Tony started to feel despondent. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way, but he couldn’t shake the feeling. As he turned a darkened spot in some sort of an alcove pulled his attention and Tony made his way over.

“What do we have here?” He asked himself as he entered the small space and found a desk, with a chair and different files set out on the desk. As he reached out, movement behind him made him turn around, but he was too late. The fist connected squarely with his chin. It was hard enough for his head to snap back and he stumbled against the desk. Tony tried to push himself up, but he moved too slow. Something struck out at him, he ducked, the metal rod hit him on the temple and his legs gave way. As he landed on his knees, he attempted one last time to get up, but it wasn’t to be. He got yanked up hard by his collar and the man sneered at him.

“You should really be afraid of fire, Anthony.” The rod struck him again and everything went dark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**BAU Offices: 2 Days later**

Aaron sighed as he pushed the file away and reached for the mug to the side of his desk. He took a sip and grimaced. The coffee was ice cold. Aaron shuddered as he placed the mug down and rose to his feet. He picked up his phone and scrolled down his contacts. His thumb rested on the name and a small smile decorated his face.

It had felt strange not seeing Tony in their briefing room. The younger man fitted in with them almost seamlessly. He’d observed that Prentiss was a bit stiff, but he also knew that it took a long time before she warmed up to someone new.

They had made little progress with the case Tony had brought in since he got the text that Agent Gibbs would be back at the office. Their progress was further hindered by a new case that came in last yesterday evening. One that didn’t need the whole team, but Morgan and Reid went to investigate, while Dave had an appointment as guest lecturer at one of the local colleges for two days, which only left him and Prentiss behind. They’d worked together and tried to throw around a few suggestions but couldn’t come up with anything concrete. It seemed that they’d gotten stuck.

For one or another reason he thought that Tony would’ve contacted him, but he’d received no message from the other man and no one else on the team gave any indication that they had been in contact with Tony. It was as if there was total radio silence between them. He wondered if Gibbs had something to do with it. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it, but in a way it still stung. Aaron hoped that Tony would make contact soon, if not, well, then maybe he should be the one to pick up his phone and make that call.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Penelope frowned as she glared at her phone and wished it to ring. Unfortunately, she possessed no magical powers, and except for giving herself a headache, her phone remained quiet. She pouted as she typed away, looking for information that Spencer had required of her. It was not enough to keep her ever active mind occupied and her thoughts kept on returning back to Tony. She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t returning her calls, or her text messages for that matter. She’d been trying to get hold of him since yesterday morning, without any luck.

She made herself a promise, if she’d not heard anything from Tony by the time she had to head home tonight, she would swing by his place, and check up on him. If there was nothing wrong with him (and she prayed that nothing was wrong,) she would box his ears. He had no right to ignore her like this. The problem was, he never ignored her. Even if he was busy with a case, he would get back to her. This was not like him. Not at all.

Morgan’s number appeared on the screen. She hit the button. “Talk to me my Chocolate stud, with what can I be of assistance? You should know, I’m still running the search on the coffee shops and graveyards, which I still don’t see how they could be connected, for Spencer.”

Penelope loved the way her friend laughed in her ear. It brought a smile to her own face. And as Morgan told her what he needed, her worry for Tony got moved to the back burner as she concentrated on her latest task.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**BAU Offices: Following day**

Aaron looked up when someone knocked on his office door. He smiled. “Morgan, you and Reid back?” He indicated to his agent to enter and watched as the highly competent agent took a seat in front of his desk.

“Yes, we landed an hour ago. I dropped Spencer off at his apartment.”

“Why did you come in?”

“Wanted to have a look at Tony’s case again. It’s been bugging me the whole time.”

Aaron nodded. “Have you spoken to Tony these past two days?”

Derek grinned. “Are you asking in your personal capacity or in an official one?”

Aaron shook his head. “There’s nothing going on between us, Derek.”

“Not yet, in any case.” Derek continued to grin. “He’s a good guy, Hotch. If there’s one person I can say that about, then it’s Tony. But, to answer your question, no. I haven’t spoken to him in the last forty-eight hours. Why? Has he not contacted you?” He frowned.

“No, nothing.” Aaron remained silent on Derek’s other comments. Now was not the time to discuss something as personal as that. And, Derek knew Aaron never discussed personal issues at work, not it if could be helped in any case.

“You getting worried?”

Aaron nodded.

Derek frowned. He took out his phone and hit the speed dial button. “Garcia.” He smiled when she responded. “When was the last time you spoke to Tony?” He frowned at her reply and then shook his head. “I’ll see if I can reach him. You know that boss of his, maybe they’re out on a case and there’s no reception, or maybe his phone fell into the water and it’s busted. I’ll see what I can do, Mamma bear, and I’ll get back to you.” Derek ended the call.

“Now you’re worried.” Aaron had noticed that Derek hadn’t stopped frowning since he started talking to Garcia on the phone.

“I am.” Derek rose to his feet. “I know we still got a few hours of this office day left, but would you mind if I can see if I can find my wayward friend?” he asked even as he placed his phone against his ear.

Aaron didn’t need to ask who he was phoning. By the look Morgan had on his face, it seems like once again, he struck out on getting hold of Tony. “I’m coming with.” His own words surprised him, but he didn’t sit down again. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and headed out after Morgan.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**NCIS: Bullpen**

Aaron noticed the senior agent first. The man held himself in such a way that screamed former military. He rolled his eyes at himself. He could already hear the reply. There’s nothing like a former Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine. He watched as the man noticed himself and Morgan. He looked on as Agent Gibbs came to his feet. A dark bruise decorated his cheek.

“You’re a long way from the BAU offices.”

Aaron wasn’t surprised that Gibbs knew who they were. He was said to be one of the best in the business and he didn’t expect anything less.

“We’re looking for Agent DiNozzo.” He came to a halt in front of the senior agent and stuck out his hand. The handshake he received was powerful.

“He’s not here.”

Aaron nodded. “I’ve noticed that. Do you know where he is?”

“Why?” Gibbs inquired with a frown.

Before Aaron could reply, a woman’s voice sounded at his back. He turned at her voice and looked at the woman dressed in a lab coat, but underneath, her clothing was even more eclectic than Garcia’s. She went for what he would interpret as a Goth look.

“Looking for another job. He doesn’t belong here.”

Aaron arched his eyebrow. Her words made no sense.

“What did you do?” Morgan spoke up next to him and he placed a bracing hand on his agent’s shoulder when the man took a step closer to Gibbs.

“Hey, the Boss-man didn’t do anything. Tony was daydreaming instead of doing his work. He had no right to hit Gibbs.” The Goth had closed the distance between them, and she grabbed hold of Morgan’s arm and jerked him backwards.

Before even Gibbs could react, Derek had flipped her over and had his cuffs in his hands. The Goth screamed and tried to fight him off.

“Let go of me, what the hell do you think you’re doing!”

“You’ve assaulted a Federal Agent.”

“I did not.” She managed to stomp her foot.

“Abby,” Gibbs spoke up. “Calm down.”

Aaron stared at Gibbs to see what his next move would be. He watched as Gibbs addressed Morgan. “Let her go.”

“And let her assault me again, I don’t think so.” Yet, Morgan made no move to slap the cuffs on her.

“She won’t.”

Aaron was impressed to see that Gibbs glared at the woman named Abby. He finally remembered her name. She was Abigail Sciuto. NCIS’ top forensic expert. It also seemed that she was a bit of a brat. He watched as she calmed down and when Morgan released her arms, she scampered back to Gibbs’ side.

“What did you mean he’s looking for another job and that he doesn’t belong here?” Morgan posted the question to her.

Before she could answer, Gibbs spoke up. “He was suspended.”

Aaron nodded. “When did this happen?”

“Two days ago.”

Aaron shared a look with Derek.

“You still didn’t answer my question, Agent Gibbs. What did you do to Tony?”

“Hey!” Abby stepped forward again. “How dare you say that. You’ve got no idea of what happened here.” This time she managed to keep her hands off him.

Morgan cocked his head. “And you do?” He ignored her and focused his attention back on Gibbs. He had a smile on his face. “He finally got tired of you slapping him on the back of the head and he punched you.” When Gibbs remained silent, Morgan’s smile grew bigger. “That’s what I thought.” His gaze lingered on Gibbs. “Why aren’t you on suspension?” He lifted his hand. “Don’t worry, don’t answer that.”

“Tony deserved to be slapped. He was on the Boss’ time. Instead, he sat around doing nothing.”

Derek had enough of the mouthy Goth. “How do you know that, Miss Sciuto? Were you here, watching him the whole time? If that’s the case, then you were also wasting time and not working. Or, maybe you were spying on him? Hacked into the security cameras and watched him the whole day long? You do realize that’s illegal. Or don’t you care?”

While she sputtered at Derek’s questions, Aaron turned his attention to Gibbs. “He wasn’t daydreaming, was he? He was working on the serial killer case and you didn’t like it. Because you believed he was wasting time – wasting _your_ time. You decided to slap him because you could.” Aaron shook his head. “Guess what Agent Gibbs? Agent DiNozzo wasn’t wasting his time, he was correct. He did find a serial killer. One with forty murders behind his name.”

He didn’t wait for a reply but focused on Morgan. “I want to talk to Director Morrow. I have a feeling that Agent DiNozzo might be in trouble.”

“What do you mean Tony might be in trouble?” Gibbs sounded concerned.

It was because of what he heard in Gibbs’ voice that made him decide to answer. “Tony’s been out of contact for the last forty-eight hours. None of us has heard anything from him.” Aaron nodded and walked towards the stairs. He had no idea where Tony was, he could only hope that the younger man was all right.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Second United Church: Sub-basement**

It was the way his body shivered with cold that really brought Tony back to the land of the living. He had been semi-conscious a few times before, but nothing like this. His body jerked and he groaned as shards of pain flared up all over his body. His head felt twice its normal size and it throbbed mercilessly. But he also had a second headache, this one, a sharp stabbing pain right over his left ear. If he were in a position to do so, he would’ve made a note to himself to ask Gerald if it was indeed possible to have two different headaches at the same time.

Groggily he opened his eyes, his vision blurred, and he had to blink a couple of times before the room came into focus. He looked down and realized that he was tied up in what appeared to be a very sturdy metal chair bolted into the concrete floor. His ankles were tied to the legs of the chair, while his hands were crossed over the back of the chair. He could see that zip-ties were used to bind his legs and as he wriggled his hands, he could feel the same hard plastic against his wrists. There was also a rope tied around his waist, tying him further up to the chair.

Tony sighed. It was going to be almost impossible to set himself free. He had a look around in the dimly lit room. One of the first things he noticed, except for the fact that it was freezing cold, was the fact that, except for the chair he found himself in, the only other piece of furniture stood in front of him and it looked like a court bench used by judges. From his position he had no view of any doors leading out of the room and there was not a single window in sight. The room smelt damp and moldy, with an underlying stench Tony couldn’t place.

Even though he’d already realized that he wouldn’t be able to get out of the ties without some help, Tony couldn’t help it as he tugged on the bindings to see if they might not want to snap open. They did not. He groaned out of frustration. With the way his arms were tied at his back, the knife hidden inside his belt buckle was of no use. Staying in the room was not an option, but getting free and out, seemed impossible as well.

What sounded like a lock opening made him turn his head. It made him feel like an owl, but the cause of the noise remained unseen. A screeching noise came from the same direction, and the dimness of the room decreased as he realized that a door had been opened. For a moment Tony hoped to be rescued, but his years of being a police officer; being an NCIS agent told him otherwise. The chances of him being rescued were almost zero. The chance of it being the person who clocked him over the head, well that chance stood at ninety-nine-point-nine percent. Tony no longer tried to see what was behind him, his kidnapper would come to him and face him. He waited until his capturer finally came into his line of sight.

“Well, if it isn’t the friendly caretaker from upstairs.” Tony shared a fake grin. “You know what? I didn’t even catch your name earlier. Care to enlighten me now? Or even tell me what the hell you’re doing? Kidnapping a federal agent is not a good thing. You really can go to jail, you know?”

“Shut up.”

“No, I don’t think so. I have to say the décor in here is appalling. The color scheme is all wrong and the furniture. I mean really, it’s cold, it’s rusty and very tight fitting. So not a good idea.”

“Shut up, shut up!” The man leaned forward and roared right into Tony’s face. His fists were balled next to his sides, his face a dark shade of red.

Tony grinned and then his world exploded in pain as the fist hit him on the right temple out of nowhere. It made his head snap to the side, and he groaned out of pain. Wisely Tony decided not to respond verbally.

“Not so mouthy, now are you?” The man spat out the words.

Tony watched as the man’s whole body vibrated with what Tony assumed to be either adrenaline or anger. He suspected it to be the second option. “What do you want?” Tony asked through clenched teeth. His head pounded in sync with his heart.

The man cocked his head. “What do I want?” He barked out a laugh. His whole posture relaxed, until he stopped. Immediately his body coiled back into a tight spring.

“Yeah, you know? World peace? An end to starvation? Maybe the winning numbers to the lottery?”

The man snorted at him and shook his head. “You really are a mouthy bastard.”

“And you’re really a chameleon.”

“What do you mean?”

Tony rolled his eyes and groaned. He felt nauseous and wondered what the man would do if he barfed all over his shoes. It seemed he’d forgotten for a moment the hits he took to the head. Apparently, they didn’t forget about him.

“What do you mean?” the man asked again.

Tony grinned. “You mean the fact that you like to play dumb, just to get away so that people would then leave you alone. That you don’t like people touching you, but that it’s all a front?” He cocked his aching head. “You make as if you’re one thing, but you’re something totally different. But, guess what, I’ve got you figured out.” He grinned because he could. He needed the man to talk, more importantly he needed to get the killer to talk, because this man standing before him, he was the serial killer. Unfortunately, Ton still didn’t know why, but that wouldn’t be a problem for long. He always had the gift of getting people to open up.

“You know nothing about me.” The man sneered and hit out to strike Tony again.

This time Tony saw the movement in time and ducked. The fist skidded over the top of his head. Tony held his breath. He had no idea if the man would take a second swing at him. It seemed not and Tony looked up again. Even in the dimmed light, Tony could see how red the man’s face was. He was still boiling with anger. “I know you kill people.”

Tony’s words made the man stumble backwards and then he laughed. It was a pure sound, light without a care in the world. It sounded like a happy child. Tony knew it was a façade, but a really impressive one. “Didn’t know killing people was funny.”

The man shook his head. “But I’m not killing them. They killed themselves.”

For a moment Tony was taken aback at the man’s answer. “Care to explain.” Tony got a shoulder shrug. “If you don’t explain, then I’m back at my own statement. You kill people.”

“NO! They died by their own hand!”

“I’m pretty sure, Navy corpsman Tom Bradshaw did not strangle himself. Neither did Sailor Joseph Bowen run himself over.”

The man before him paced the floor. It was clear to Tony that he wasn’t doing it because he was agitated, his pace was too calculated. Six steps forward, one turn back, and then six steps in the direction he came from. Each one the same stride, each passing took the exact same time. Tony was about to push again, when the man finally spoke up.

“Do you believe in fate, Anthony?” The man stopped pacing. He took up a stance in front of Tony.

“Like in your future set out even before you were born kind of thing?”

“Simplified, yes.”

“No.”

The look on the man’s face was priceless. It morphed from being flabbergasted to rage. All in a fraction of a second. Tony pushed on. “Each person is in control of their own life. They make their own choices and reach their own decisions. Nothing is fate, or pre-destined. Your life is shaped by your own hand, but it is also influenced by the circumstances surrounding you. No one lives in a bubble.”

“You’re wrong.” The man paced again. “Each person has a task set out to him or her at the beginning of their lives. It is pre-programmed in your brain and at the given moment you have to do what is expected from you.” He stopped pacing and took a stance in front of Tony. “It is set out to test you, to determine if you are worthy or not. Most people are not.”

“And what do their tasks have to do with you?”

“The failing in their tasks, aids me, in the fulfillment of mine.”

Tony merely frowned. There were so many things running through his brain which he would’ve loved to say out loud, but he had a feeling his _host_, would not appreciate it. He wisely decided to keep his question fairly straightforward. “Who are you to say they failed?”

“I am told.”

Tony rolled his eyes and blinked. “You are told?”

“Yes.”

“By who? The destiny police?”

The punch made his head rock back. Blood filled his mouth. He must’ve sliced his tongue on his teeth. Tony turned his head and spat. He locked eyes with his capturer. “Okay, so not the destiny police. Who then? How does it work?”

“The authorities tell me.”

Tony groaned, more out of frustration than anything else. “Is this like a conspiracy theory?” he whispered the words and looked around.

“You are mocking me.”

Tony shrugged. “You’re the one who’s talking nonsense. You’re the one who goes out killing people and then saying they didn’t fulfil a specific task, and because of that, they have to die. Except, you say it’s their own fault that they die – they killed themselves.” Tony stared at the man. “Do you hear how silly that sounds?”

The next punch was to his abdomen and it robbed him of the ability to breathe for a second or two. He gasped until his lungs finally took in the air they desperately sought.

“Stop mocking me!” The man snarled as he punched Tony again and again.

Hits rained down Tony’s face and body. He couldn’t do anything to protect himself. He felt his nose give way, his cheekbone throbbed, and his ribs gave way. He felt his chest tighten up, no longer being able to breath freely. The last thing he heard before the darkness claimed him was the madman’s voice yelling at him, that he would prove it to him. Tony wondered if he had enough time to live to observe this proof.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Tony’s apartment: Four days missing**

Gibbs let himself into Tony’s apartment and closed the door behind him. He’d wanted to kick himself for not remembering the key Tony had given to him around four months after he’d started at NCIS. He’d given Gibbs the key after the first time he ended up in the hospital for an injury he sustained in the line of duty. Up until now, Gibbs hasn’t used it. There were times where it would’ve helped, but for one or the other reason he didn’t. Gibbs knew now was not the time to dwell on that. He’d come to Tony’s apartment for a specific reason.

After the BAU had stepped into the bullpen two days ago and Gibbs learned Tony was missing, he’d finally pulled his head out of his ass and realized what he’d done, but more importantly what Tony had uncovered.

Tom Morrow made it crystal clear what he thought about his senior field agent. He went as far as to say that he would rather keep Tony on as an agent and fire Gibbs if he was made to choose. What made him unable to sleep, were his own memories. Memories he tried to hide at the bottom of a bottle of a bourbon down in his basement. It didn’t work.

Yesterday he’d phoned Mike. The conversation didn’t last long, but the shouting match lasted much longer. Finally, Gibbs had slammed his flip phone shut, and threw it against his half-built boat. It had shattered on impact and he couldn’t give a damn.

He’d gone back into the office and up to Morrow’s office. There he sat himself down in front of his friend and told him the story of Joseph Bowen. It had been his second crime scene as a probie under Mike’s wing and although he was a hardened Marine, had served in Iraq, he still had some sort of hero worship going on for his mentor. The man who’d taken him in, had gotten him back on his feet after his girls were murdered. If it hadn’t been for Mike Franks, he would’ve ended up dead. A bullet through his head by his own hand.

He’d walked the scene, noted everything that seemed to be relevant and sketched it. When he’d noticed the pigeon, he didn’t think much of it, but the fact that the pigeon was headless with no visible blood trail from the body and no sign of the missing head itself had him stumped, but also curious at the same time. He’d painstakingly noted it on the sketch, even gone as far as to note the distance between their victim and the pigeon.

When they had been back at the NIS office, he’d sat down and tried to see if he could find any reference in the agency’s computer system to dead pigeons on crime scenes but had come up with nothing. His gut had told him the headless pigeon was important to their case, and he’d gone to Mike and explained to the other man what he had found, and that it might’ve meant something. Franks had glared at him and made it crystal clear that it was only a fucking dead pigeon and nothing more and that he shouldn’t waste his time in noting down something as futile as a headless pigeon. The fact was, Mike hadn’t conveyed this to him in a normal voice, instead, he’d bellowed it out for everyone in the office to hear. It had been the only time Mike Franks had yelled at him, but it also had been the last time he’d noted any dead pigeons on crime scene sketches. Now it had left him with two burning questions. If he’d followed up on his gut feeling, could they have caught Joseph Bowen’s killer? Could they have stopped all the other murders after that? It were questions that remained unanswered.

Gibbs stared at the board Tony had placed in his dining room. It had sticky notes all over with different names, different streets were identified, as well as different buildings. Next to the board was what appeared to be a city map. It had pins pressed into it, all connected with pieces of colored string and in the middle of the map he’d drawn a circle. A sticky note with a question mark was placed right in the middle. At the bottom of the note in Tony’s handwriting were the words _killer’s lair_. Gibbs realized that if he wanted to find Tony, he had to start with the building in the middle of the map. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to do all of it on his own. He only hoped that the BAU would be willing to help him to find Tony. He – they, had to find Tony. The sooner the better.

Gibbs grabbed the board, placed it on the table, took the map and rolled it up. He looked around Tony’s workspace for anything else that might be of use before he picked up the board and map. It was time to go to the BAU office and help them. It was time he made amends for all the mistakes he’d made. Finding Tony would only be the beginning. Restoring their friendship would take longer, but Gibbs will make sure he does it right.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**BAU Offices**

“SSA Hotchner?”

Aaron looked up at the knock on his door. “What can I do for you, Matthew?” he asked the security guard that was stationed on their floor.

“There’s an Agent Gibbs of NCIS here to see you.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow. “You can show him to my office,” he said as he rose to his feet. The guard nodded and disappeared from Aaron’s view. A few minutes later he reappeared with Gibbs in tow.

“Thank you, Matthew.” Aaron dismissed the man. He focused on the other man. “Agent Gibbs.” He indicated for the man to come in.

“I’ve pulled my head out of my ass and I’m here to help look for DiNozzo.” Gibbs remained standing. He looked at the items he still clutched in his hands. “I got this from Tony’s apartment, it might help us in finding him.”

Aaron stared at the NCIS agent for a very long time before he finally nodded. “We will appreciate the help. The team is set up in our briefing room.” Aaron walked out of his office with Gibbs on his heels. The two of them walked the short distance to the meeting room in silence. Aaron could hear his team even before they reached the door. He managed not to roll his eyes when they all became quiet the moment he and Gibbs entered the room.

“What is he doing here?” Morgan rose to his feet.

“I came to offer my assistance,” Gibbs answered the question himself.

The two men glared at one another.

Aaron cleared his throat. He introduced his team to the NCIS agent.

“What do you have there, Agent Gibbs?” Spencer inquired and broke the tension that gathered in the room.

“I found this in Tony’s apartment.” He handed the map over and heaved the board onto the table. The young man in front of him didn’t even look old enough to be an agent, but all of the alphabet agencies talked about him. Doctor Spencer Reid was some sort of a genius.

“How did you get into Tony’s apartment?”

Gibbs looked at the woman, introduced as Penelope Garcia who asked the question. Her clothing screamed with color, but in a weird way she made it work. He then realized where he’d heard her name before. She was one of Tony’s best friends. “I have a key.”

It looked like she wanted to respond but his attention was brought back to the doctor. He had opened the map and had moved to the side of the room where a similar map was pinned up. “Tony managed to gather much more information than us.” He shook his head.

“You don’t seem impressed by it.” Gibbs felt his hackles rise. He even took a step forward.

“Back down,” Morgan snarled at him.

Spencer looked at the two men and shook his head. “It’s all right, Morgan.” He turned his gaze to Gibbs. “You’ve misinterpreted my comment, Agent Gibbs. I am in fact very impressed with all the information Tony has gathered by himself. He is really one of the best investigators out there. He would make an even better profiler.” He couldn’t help but to get the jab in at the NCIS agent. The man’s body posture told him that the hit found its target. He was, however, impressed when the older man didn’t react, but instead focused on the two maps side by side.

“He resides in this area.” Gibbs indicated to the crude circle Tony had drawn on his map.

“Most likely, yes.” Spencer stood back and studied the two maps side by side.

“Garcia?” He turned to the woman. “Find out everything you can on the Second United Church.”

“Why?” Aaron asked from the side.

“Pigeons.” When Spencer looked around him and noticed the look of confusion on his teammates faces, he explained. “The Second United Church is known for the large number of pigeons that made it their home over the years since the church opened its doors in 1860. The town fathers at that stage even wanted to eradicate them, but then the church stepped in and declared the grounds of the church to be a sanctuary to the rock pigeons. It’s also a popular tourist destination in the Summer months.”

“How do you know that, Pretty Boy?” Derek shook his head. “Don’t answer that.” He grinned at his friend and then looked at the group in the room. “That’s another boxed ticked. I mean, what’s the possibility that there’s a headless pigeon found at every crime scene and the church with all of these pigeons sits right in the middle of this?”

“Guys, I think I found something,” Penelope’s voice sounded through the room. She had an expression on her face that Gibbs found difficult to decipher.

“What did you find, Garcia?” Aaron indicated to their IT guru to continue.

“It will not surprise me that Spencer knows this, but I think I might have finally found our missing link.” She sounded excited. “The ME’s records were stored at the Church from 1989 after their offices flooded and there was no other place to store them. It was only moved again at the end of last month.”

“That’s good. But I don’t follow the link?” Derek frowned.

“Because this is the part, I tell you that I found something,” Penelope responded. “So, what you did not know, was that in 1989, Joseph Bowen, was a witness at an inquest inquiry held by the ME after he’d witness what appeared to be a hit and run. That file was one of the tons of files send over to the church for storage.”

The team stared one another. “What happened at the inquiry?” Aaron asked the question.

“No criminal charges were laid against the driver.”

“Bowen was a witness to a hit and run and he gets killed in a hit and run. That’s definitely not a coincidence.” Derek shook his head.

“But why target Bowen, why not the driver?” Prentiss inquired as she reached for her tablet to go through the notes on the Bowen case again.

“It’s stated in this report that Bowen, who was first on the scene, administered first aid to the victim, but the man didn’t make it.” Penelope looked up from her own tablet.

“Tony stated and we agreed that the headless pigeons are a sin offering. We were unsure if the offer was made on behalf of the unsub, or our victim. With the information Garcia gave us, it’s clear that the offering is made on behalf of the victim.” Derek watched Spencer as he spoke.

“I agree.” Spencer addressed the group. “Our unsub must feel that the victim has committed a sin, and that by his own death, he’s now finally repenting for that sin.”

“I don’t understand? What sin? He tried to help a man?” Penelope asked confused.

“We’ll need the whole record of the inquiry, there must be more to this case than the information we’ve got available. If we get that, we’ll get our answers,” Aaron responded. “Garcia, you also need to run a search on all of our victims again. This time look if they were in any way of manner involved in any inquest inquiries conducted by the ME.”

“I’ll get on it. I’ll let you know the moment I find something.” Penelope nodded and headed towards the door.

“Garcia, also do a run on the church. Find out everything you can about the people who work there, but more importantly, who had access to those records. That includes all the personnel at the ME’s office,” Spencer called out to their analyst before she disappeared from the room.

“On it, Boy Genius!” she called out over her shoulder.

Gibbs looked at the group of people and reached a decision. He made his way over to the door.

“Agent Gibbs?” Spencer watched as the NCIS agent got to his feet.

“That church has the answers.” He didn’t elaborate.

“How do you know that? We don’t have all the information yet,” Spencer asked.

“My gut.”

“Your gut?” Derek snorted.

“Yep.”

“And what if your _gut_ places Tony in more danger?” Derek pressed on.

“DiNozzo can take care of himself.”

“That’s right, he can. He doesn’t exactly have a choice, now does he?”

“What exactly do you mean by that, Agent Morgan?” Gibbs turned back from the door and stood toe to toe with the other man.

“Exactly what I’m saying, Agent Gibbs. Tony has to make sure that he can take care of himself, never mind what the situation is, because where he always has your six seven days a week, you don’t have his. Never. It’s because of _you_, that he takes unnecessary chances to get his job done, to catch your suspects.”

“That’s enough,” Dave’s voice bellowed through the room. He’d been silent the whole time, but now he knew it was time to speak up. “The two of you are not bullies who need to fight it out in the school yard. We need to focus on the task here at hand, and that’s to find Anthony.”

“I agree.” Aaron glared at the NCIS agent, but he also glared at his own agent. “But Agent Gibbs is also correct. We need to check out the church.” When Derek opened his mouth, Aaron silenced him with a look.

“Dave, you go with Agent Gibbs and check out the church. Stay in contact with us. We’ll update you as soon as Garcia has more.” Aaron looked at his team. “The rest of us will work through these files. See if we can find a possible unsub.”

Dave nodded at his team lead and indicated with his hand for Gibbs to take the lead. When the man exited the room, he rolled his eyes at Aaron.

“You’re the only one levelheaded enough to deal with that hot head, Dave.”

Dave grinned. “I may be calmer than Derek, Aaron, but I’m still going to make my opinion clear to Agent Gibbs.” He followed the other man out of the office.

Aaron sighed. “Let’s get working.” He took his seat, grateful that Derek decided not to argue any further.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Second United Church: Sub-basement**

Tony had no idea how many hours, or even days had passed. The problem he did have, was that Pigeon Man (so christened after he’d seen the man walking around cuddling a pigeon), never with any of the victims he had killed, had kidnapped and or kept them for days before he killed them. For some reason he had evolved, and now Tony suffered the consequences.

Tony being Tony, had taunted the man in an attempt to see if he could get more information out of him, unfortunately, despite the fact that he had a nasty temper on him, he remained tight lipped about everything else. It had left Tony with more than a couple of bruised and fractured ribs. One hell of a concussion which didn’t want to subside, and a nasty knife wound to his left thigh when he baited the man one time too many, and the man rammed his knife into Tony’s thigh. At least he was kind enough to bandage it up over his trousers.

His abductor also had the tendency to disappear for long periods of time. The first time it had happened, Tony had tried everything in his power to free himself from the zip ties, but the only thing he managed to do was to bloody his wrists and ankles.

The second time, Tony had yelled. He’d continued to scream at the top of his lungs in the hope that someone might hear the sound and come to investigate. It had left him voiceless afterwards, and since the man heard him yelling when he came back, he not only gave him another beating within an inch of his life, but he now had gagged Tony as well. It made breathing extremely difficult.

Tony lifted his head groggily. His stomach ached with emptiness, his tongue so thick as a result of thirst and with the obstruction in his mouth, he swallowed with extreme difficulty. With both his eyes nearly swollen shut, he struggled to look around. It appeared that the room was once again empty. He hadn’t even realized that the man had left. He tried the bindings again, but they still didn’t want to budge.

Still squinting, Tony noticed something different in the room. The judge’s bench now spotted a chair and there seemed to be documents on top. If he squinted just right, he could make out what appeared to be a gavel. Tony frowned at the sight. It appeared that he was longer out of it than what he had guessed. He couldn’t help but to feel apprehensive of what he saw. Tony tried the zip ties again. The ties bit into his flesh, he felt the wounds he’d already sustained on his wrists split open and blood dripped from his wrist. The warm liquid snaked down his fingers. He could feel the droplets dangling on his fingertips before they let go and fell to the ground. He wanted to scream out of frustration.

This time Tony heard the door at his back opening. He took a deep breath, or as deep as possible, since his ribs were busted, and waited for the man to appear. He held his body rigid. Tony groaned through his gag as the room suddenly flooded with light. Even though he couldn’t open his eyes properly, they immediately teared up. He lowered his head and kept his eyes closed. His head got yanked back by his hair and he couldn’t manage to stifle the groan that escaped.

The man held him by the hair and then removed the gag from Tony’s mouth. It made him gasp for air. Before he could speak up, the man pressed something against his lips. Tony tried to close his mouth, but then he felt the wetness against his lips and he opened up. More water made it down his neck and chest than what made it down his throat, but Tony managed to swallow a few mouthfuls of water before the bottle got taken away.

“More, please,” his voice could barely be classified as a whisper.

“It seems you do have manners.” The man pressed the bottle back against his lips.

Tony managed another few swallows and then turned his head away. His thirst was not quenched, but he knew if he drank too much water, he would bring it all back up again. “Thank you,” he whispered again.

The man huffed and moved away from him. Tony followed his movements. He frowned when the man walked in behind the judge’s bench, climbed the two steps and sat down on the chair. He watched as the man banged the gavel once.

“This court is now in session.”

Tony snorted. The man’s next words, however, made him blanch.

“Anthony Dominic DiNozzo, you are hereby charged with the crime of murder. That in April 1994 and at Baltimore, you caused the death of Amber King by failing to rescue her and causing her to die, therefore failing to complete your set task.”

The man looked up. “Do you understand the charge, and how do you plead?”

“What?” Tony shivered in his chair. He remembered that night as if it had happened yesterday. He was out jogging in an attempt to clear his head before a game, when he saw the smoke coming from a window. Without even hesitating for a second, Tony had run into the townhouse. He’d found the young boy, Jason King crying and coughing while at the same time he was hiding in a closet. As he carried the boy, Jason called out Amber’s name. He’d stopped with the boy in his arms. The hallway was engulfed in flames, smoke bellowing while sparks rained down. He had to make a choice. It was a hard lesson he’d learned that night. _You can’t save them all. Sometimes, you have to pick one._ Jason had struggled against him, begged him to save his sister, but Tony knew if he tried that, they would all die. In the end Tony was older and larger and he’d managed to get the nine-year old out of the burning house. They’d both stood gasping out in the fresh night air when the boy tried to go back in again. Tony tackled him to the ground. The only way the youngster would remain outside and wait for the fire brigade was if Tony promised to go back inside and find his sister. Find Amber.

Tony had made the promise. He had left the boy on the sidewalk still gasping for air and headed back into the burning building. Twice pieces of falling debris nearly killed him, but Tony had pressed on. He had managed to get only slightly singed as he got into the house. He’d called out numerous times. She never responded back. He’d gone down on his knees, crawled through the structure, but without luck. He hadn’t seen the wall as it tumbled at his back, he only felt its crushing weight on top of him and then nothing more.

Tony woke up three days later in hospital. He’d sustained minor burns; the collapsed wall created a cover for the flames, and this is where the firefighters found him more than twenty minutes later. But he also suffered from severe smoke inhalation, had a broken arm, and a large gash on the back of his head. He was released from hospital on the fifth day.

He was later informed that they found Amber’s body curled up inside of a closet where she went hiding in an attempt to escape the flames. She’d died of smoke inhalation. She was four years old. It had left Tony devastated. He’d tried to contact Jason, but the young boy didn’t want anything to do with him. Tony only saw him once after the fire. It was at the medical examiners’ inquiry.

The moment Jason saw Tony he attacked him. He screamed at him, hitting him with his small fists, calling him a killer. It had shocked Tony to his core. He had tried to tell the boy he was sorry, but the nine-year old didn’t want to listen to him. It was hard giving his testimony at the inquiry and he remembered he drank himself into a stupor after he was told he could leave. It had taken him a long while to stop hearing Amber’s screams in his dreams or finding Jason in his nightmares accusing him of murder. That fire was the reason he had decided to become a cop. He’d had hoped that by saving the lives of people, he would be able to lay his own demons to rest. In a way he’d succeeded, until now.

“What?” Tony repeated the question.

“Don’t insult the court’s intelligence, Agent DiNozzo. You understood the charge. Stop playing for time. No one knows you are here.”

Tony shook his head. “I tried.”

“You didn’t try hard enough. You killed her.”

“She died of smoke inhalation.”

“Correct, because you didn’t save her. You caused her death. You are guilty of murder.” The man brought the gavel down hard on the bench. The sound echoed through the room.

“No!” Tony found his voice. He managed to lift his head. “You’re playing judge, jury and executioner. If you’re so bent on finding out the truth, then I’ve got the right to state my case in full.”

Pigeon man glared at him. “Fair enough.” He brought down the gavel again. “You have ten minutes. Convince me.”

“No. That’s not enough time. This happened nine years ago.” Tony squinted at the files on top of the bench. “Those are the ME’s records. Where did you get them? Did you steal them?” Tony took a deep breath. He knew his capturer would not provide him with answers. He had to play for time. “I’ve got a right to full disclosure. Give me a copy. Let me prepare.”

“No!” The man jumped up from the chair.

Tony grinned and cocked his head. “I don’t understand, why not?”

“Because you’re playing for time.”

Tony snorted. “You told me no one knows where I am, so how am I playing for time? If you’re really into finding justice for those who died, then you will give me a time to defend myself before you sentence me to death.”

The man sank down on the chair. He tapped with his fingers against the wood. “Your argument is logical.” He nodded. “One hour.” He got up from behind the bench, took the thick folder from the corner and walked over to Tony. He held the file out to the man in the chair.

“I would love to take that from you, but I’m a bit tied up at the moment. Care to give me a hand?”

The man stared at him before he reached out, removed a knife from his pocket and moved in behind Tony. Tony tried to remain relaxed but being unable to see what was going on behind him, especially since his abductor had a knife in his hand made him tense up.

He felt the blade against his skin, felt it move and then the tie snapped and gave way. But, before Tony could move his arms from his back, an iron hand closed around his right wrist.

“Keep still.” The demand was whispered in his ear.

Tony nodded. He felt it as the man moved behind him. Then something smooth and cold slid around his right wrist. Before Tony could ask what it was, he heard a metallic sound against the chair and then the familiar click sound as the cuff closed shut around his wrist and the other end around a piece of the iron chair he sat on.

“Let me guess, my own handcuffs?”

Tony received no reply. When the man moved from his back, Tony slowly brought his left arm forward. He couldn’t stifle the groan as his arm spasmed when, after so long he finally moved again. He couldn’t even rub it, not with his right arm still tied at this back. “Fuck,” he cursed through clenched teeth. He threw back his head and breathed hard through his mouth. What felt like an eternity on its own, his arm finally stopped cramping and he could move it slowly. It was still very stiff.

Tony stared at the man through his swollen eyes. He once again had the file Tony requested in his hand. Tony brought up his hand and took the file. “Thank you.” He ignored the way his hand trembled.

The man didn’t respond and moved away. “One hour.”

Tony heard the door open behind him and then it closed again. Not knowing if it was a trick and that the man didn’t leave the room, Tony wiggled in the chair, and managed to open the file on his lap single handedly. The first document was the postmortem report done on Amber. Cause of death was typed out in bold letters. His eyes read the words, his mind ignored it.

He turned the document over and concentrated on any sounds at his back. Tony paged through the file, not taking in any of the words written on the pages, but instead he listened. After what he estimated to be ten minutes, and without hearing anything from his back, Tony led the file slipped from his lap. The papers tumbled to the floor. “No!” He gasped out loud. “Fuck,” he added, because he could. Now knowing that he was indeed alone, Tony went over into action.

He managed to undo his belt single handedly and grinned when his fingers found what he was looking for. The tiny key to his set of cuffs came out of the hidey hole and Tony grinned. The knife nestled in there, he left for the time being. First, he had to release his right arm, and then he would work on setting himself free.

It took him longer than expected, but finally Tony managed to unlock the cuff and slipped his hand free. He moaned when he brought his arm forward. The same spasms he experienced in his left arm, plagued his right. He vigorously massaged his right arm to get the blood flow restored, while he mentally calculated how many minutes he had left of his hour. When his arm only tingled, Tony retrieved the knife and cut the ties around his legs and the rope that secured his waist to the chair. He gingerly came to his feet.

His first instinct was to run, but his training kicked in. He had to catch the killer. But his body ached, his fractured ribs made it difficult to breath, and he felt weak. Tony knew that he would not be able to overcome the man if they had to fight hand to hand. His knife was a weapon, but it was small, and he would have to be right up in the man’s face if he wanted to cause any real damage with it. He had to find something else. Something to arm himself with and then he had to get out of there.

Tony looked around the room. It was larger than what he’d thought initially. Behind the bench he found something strange. A metal sheet covered the wall. He had no idea why it was there, or what it meant, but it wasn’t going to be a way out, so he ignored it and moved on. Except for the bench, gavel and chair, there had to be more in the vast room. Tony quickly started looking around. In the end, his search turned up nothing useful and Tony knew he had no other choice but to rely on his fists, his knife and his years of training. He made his way over to the door. It was the first time he laid eyes on the door. It surprised him that it was a steel door, it closed so silently that he never would’ve guessed it was made of steel. Since he didn’t hear any padlocks or keys when Pigeon Man closed the door, he hoped that the man was arrogant enough not to have locked it. Tony slowly reached out for the handle and pressed it down and as it went down all the way he pulled it open. Tony sighed in relief. He looked right and left and then stepped out of the room. Without looking back, he kicked the door shut behind him and kept to the side of the wall.

This room appeared smaller in size and stood empty. Tony could see nothing of interest in the room, although it appeared a bit hazy. He frowned at the sight but made it off as being nothing. He hurried towards the door. He placed his head against the door and tried to listen for any movement on the other side. His hour must be almost over and his capturer didn’t look like a man who’d give him more than his allotted time. He opened the door and stepped through. It was hazier than the previous room. The smell tickled the back of his throat and he coughed. Tony then realized what it was. It was smoke.

He frantically looked around, looking for the fire, but also looking for a way out. It seemed like his capturer had no intention of coming back. He’d already decided that Tony was guilty. He’d already delivered his sentence.

Tony tried not to panic.

He finally found the door and raced towards it. Smoke billowed around him; the air thick with it. Tony pulled his shirt over his head, ignored the way his injured ribs protested at his actions and tied the shirt around his mouth and nose. It would’ve been better if he had something to wet it with, but for now it had to do.

When he reached the door, he grabbed at the handle and screamed out in pain as it burned his hand. He clutched it to his chest, his breathing hitched as he realized that he wouldn’t be able to go through that door. The fire was right on the other side. Tony stumbled back. He had to get away from the smoke, from the flames that would find their way into the room. He frantically looked around, looking for another way out, looking for a possible window, but there was no other door and no window. It left him with only one option. He would have to go back from where he came.

Tony ran towards the door he exited from. The smoke in the room had doubled in thickness. He coughed and continued to cough. He sank to his knees and started to crawl to where the door was. When he finally got to the door, he reached up, and made a grab for the handle. His hand stilled. There was no handle.

“NO, no.” Tony shook his head in disbelieve. He got to his feet and felt the door. There was no handle. The killer had removed the handle from this side of the door. He knew Tony would get out, and he’d set Tony up in the perfect trap. Even with that thought, it didn’t stop Tony from trying. He looked for the hinges in an attempt to get them out but found that they’d been tampered with. There was no way that he would get the hinges out.

Tony sank back on his knees. The smoke was getting thicker by the second. The heat inside the room had also increased. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He coughed and lowered himself flat to the floor. He turned his body and pressed his face against the floor. There was a narrow gap between the door and the floor. He had to keep calm, he had to breathe through the narrow gap and hope that he would get enough oxygen from the other side of the room for him to survive until the fire department showed up.

He tried to listen for any sirens but heard nothing. His body trembled, his heart rate increased, he started to take shallow breaths as he started to panic. He knew he had to calm down, but he couldn’t get himself to do that. He coughed again and again. His vision darkened as the air around him became thinner and the smoke thicker. Tony’s hands scraped against the door, his nails breaking off, leaving blood drops on the door, but it didn’t help. He sobbed hard and gasped for air but finding none. His vision turned gray and then dark.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

“What do you have for us, Garcia?” Dave asked as he and Gibbs sped down the road on the way to the abandoned church.

_“I’ve got plenty, Sir. Once I knew what to look for, it was easy to find what we needed.”_

“Go ahead.”

_“All of our victims have indeed, at one or another time, given evidence at an inquiry held by the ME’s office. What’s more disturbing, Sir, is the fact that all of the victims died in the same way the original victims died.”_

“All of them?” Dave shared a look with Gibbs. “Were any of them a person of interest or suspect in the incidents that lead to the inquiries?”

_“Yes, Sir, all of them. And no, none of them were suspects, they were all witness. From what I could gather, all of them were first on the scene, all of them tried to help the original victim, but unfortunately they were too late.”_

“Our first case, Tom Bradshaw, was strangled,” Gibbs spoke up for the first time.

_“Yes, you see, while Bradshaw was still in college, his roommate, Damion Right, died of autoerotic asphyxiation. Tom was the one who found him in their dorm room. He’d conducted CPR, but he was too late. The inquiry was held to rule out any foul play. His death was ruled accidental.”_

“Job well done, Garcia. Any possible suspects?”

_“That’s taken a bit longer, Sir. It seems like there’s a lot of volunteers revolving through the ME’s doors.”_

“No, our unsub is not a volunteer. Concentrate on any male employee who has been working there from 1993 until now. He would now be in his thirties, maybe even early forties. He would have access to all of the records to the inquiries. He might be a filing clerk, an assistant ME, even a personal assistant in the ME’s office. Then, if you’ve got a list of potential unsubs, cross reference them to find a connection to the church, Garcia. And I don’t need to tell you, this, but you need to work fast.”

_“I know that, Sir. I will.”_ The call ended.

The two men in the SUV watched one another. “Why take DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing. Either Tony found out who our unsub is, or he found something that he wasn’t supposed to find, and the unsub grabbed him.”

“He’s not dead,” Gibbs stated with conviction.

Dave nodded. “I know.” His knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. “But we also don’t know how much time he has left.”

“You think the suspect might kill him?”

“Yes,” Dave agreed. “Our unsub is seeing himself as sort of an avenger. He has the need to right what he sees as wrong. If he feels that Tony might stop him from what he has to do, he would see himself as having no choice, but to kill Tony.”

“You need to drive faster,” Gibbs responded tersely.

“Why?” Rossi asked even as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

“Because of that.” Gibbs indicated to the west. A large column of bellowing smoke could be seen darkening the skyline. The high dome of the church glowed red.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**BAU Offices**

“Derek! Derek!” Penelope screamed as she ran through the hallways. Her face was streaked with tears, her makeup blotched as she hobbled towards her team’s briefing room. More than one agent tried to stop her, but she brushed passed them, she had to get to Morgan, he was the only one that would be able to help.

“Derek,” she sobbed as she ran straight into his arms. “You need to go, now, please, hurry. Please.”

Derek pressed the woman against his chest. He could feel the way she trembled underneath his hands. “Calm down, Baby girl, what’s wrong, talk to me.”

“Tony, he’s the next intended victim,” she sobbed harder.

“What are you talking about?” He looked at Spencer over her shoulder. His friend was already on the phone, trying to get hold of Rossi.

“I got access to the ME’s online data reports and I was doing a search on the victims and as I eliminated criteria that was irrelevant, a name caught my attention. ADD DiNozzo. I had to check it out. Tony had testified in an inquiry nine years back.”

Both Derek and Spencer shared another look. “It’s not to say that our unsub knows that, or that it meets his criteria, Baby girl.”

Penelope shook her head. “He was the first one on the scene. He ran into a burning townhouse. He saved a nine-year old boy but couldn’t save the four-year old sister.” She looked at the man still holding her close. “Someone else also ran a search on Tony’s name a few days back. There’s nothing much to find on him, but the one thing that’s easy to find is the article with a large photo of him and the boy he rescued on the front page.”

“Guys, you need to see this,” Jennifer’s voice sounded behind them.

All three turned around and Penelope’s legs gave way. If it wasn’t for the fact that Derek held her up, she would’ve collapsed to the floor.

“We need to get going,” Derek barked out as he pushed Penelope into a chair. The ZNN news channel broadcasted images of a burning Second United Church. Penelope’s fear had become a reality. Whoever set the church alight, might have done so in punishment for Tony.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

“Go around the back,” Gibbs instructed his fellow agent as they ran down the pathway to the burning building. They’ve managed to dodge the firefighters as both men didn’t want to be stopped from entering the burning building. They both knew that they were putting their lives at risk, but they had to find Tony and waiting for the fire department to send someone in to go and look for the missing agent would be wasting time. Time that they believed, Tony didn’t have.

“There!” Dave shouted as he spotted what appeared to be a cellar door. Both men ran to it. Dave reached out and touched the brass knob. It was still cool. “It’s safe!” he called out as he grabbed hold and yanked hard at the door.

The door swung open under the force, and nearly landed Dave on his back, but Gibbs steadied him. The opening remained clear of any smoke and both men drew their firearms before they descended the stairs. As they started to search the room, smoke started to fill the large area.

“Wait!” Dave shouted at the man next to him. He indicated to a faucet on the side of the wall. He removed his shirt and turned the faucet open. He made sure the shirt was soaking wet before he tied it over his nose and mouth. He waited or Gibbs to do the same.

With the smoke still manageable they made their way deeper into what appeared to be a cellar. None of them was aware that the church had something like that, and Rossi made a mental note that if things ended well to ask Spencer more about the history of the church.

“This way!” Gibbs called out as he spotted a door leading deeper into the church’s belly. He tested this door like they did the first. It was still cool to the touch and he opened it up. There was more smoke in the room, but they could still see that the room was deprived of any life forms. They moved swiftly on.

Gibbs lost track of how many rooms they entered and exited. It was as if they were in a cellar larger than the church itself. He wondered it that was at all possible. He coughed a few times and realized that the smoke had become denser. They were nearing the fire and what worried him was that there was still no sign of Tony.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs called out on the run. Both men still had their noses and mouths covered with their shirts, but they had also armed themselves and used the flashlights attached to their weapons for better visibility.

“There,” Dave indicated to his left and both men changed direction. They jogged over and he cursed under his breath. What they found was a pile of old rags in front of what appeared a solid metal-sheet in the wall, and nothing more. Disgusted, he kicked at it and then cursed out loud. “Fuck.”

Dave went down on his haunches.

“Is that a pigeon? More specifically an almost burned to the crisp, pigeon?”

Dave looked up. His face grim. “Tony found his serial killer.” He wanted to continue, but his phone rang in his pocket and he fished it out.

“Spencer?”

Rossi blanched at Spencer’s words. He looked at the dead pigeon and then at Agent Gibbs. “Use the entrance on the southern side of the church. We’re busy clearing what appears to be a cellar underneath the church.” He ended the call.

“What’s going on?”

“Were you aware that Tony gave evidence at an inquiry led by the ME nine years ago?”

Gibbs shook his head and then blanched. “Tony’s the next victim.” He glanced at the burned pigeon and then at Rossi. “We have to find him.”

Dave merely nodded, but then frantically started looking around.

“What are you looking for?”

“Two things. A headless pigeon and then something to pry this sheet open.”

“What?” Gibbs stared Rossi as if he’d lost his mind.

“Every headless pigeon Tony found was approximately four feet away from the victim. We speculated that there should be what’s called a _whole offering_. We found the second offering. The first offering should be here somewhere, and Tony should be within four feet from the headless pigeon. And since Tony isn’t in this room, he has to be through that metal-sheet.”

Gibbs glared at the sheet as if he could get it to melt down with his stare only. It didn’t work.

“Find something to pry this open!” Dave called out. The two men fanned out in an attempt to find something they could use as a crowbar to pry the metal-sheet from the wall. They came up empty handed.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs banged on the metal-sheet. He received no response. Gibbs tried for a second time. No sound could be heard from the other side of the metal sheet. “We need to get someone down here to get this metal-sheet down.”

Dave nodded. He reached for his phone as he coughed. The smoke was thicker, both their breathing sounded more labored to his ears. When his call got answered he quickly spoke up. “Bring a couple of firefighters with you and their jaws of life. Hurry!”

“Let’s head back, there’s nothing more we can do down here at the moment. We’ll meet up with Morgan and the firefighters and then come back with them. We need to get some fresh air as well.”

“I’m not leaving my agent down here.”

Dave scoffed. “Don’t look now, Agent Gibbs, but _your_ agent isn’t here. We don’t even know if he’s on the other side. At this stage we can only hope he is. What is more important, is that we need to get help and also make sure that we’re strong enough to be of assistance when we find Tony. Standing around here, breathing in this smoke, is not going to help.”

Gibbs wanted to growl, but he knew the BAU agent was correct. He tersely nodded. “Let’s go.” Both men started to run in the direction they came from.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Derek, with Spencer, Hotch and Prentiss short on his heels, ran up to the fire captain and held out his credentials. “There’s a trapped NCIS agent down in the cellars.”

“That’s impossible, this church doesn’t have a cellar.” The captain frowned at them.

“Are you aware of the fact that it has a basement?” Spencer moved forward.

“Yes, and I’ve already sent a team down there to clear it out.”

“Good. Although the basement runs beneath the church, there’s an even older cellar that runs beneath that. I am more than willing to bore you with all the details on that, but not now. Now, we need to get down there and find the missing agent.”

Something in Spencer’s stance made the captain realize that the FBI agents were being serious.

“I’ll send a team.” He reached for his comms on his shirt collar.

“They need to go this way.” Spencer indicated to the side of the church.

“The basement’s entrance is through the church.”

Spencer shook his head. “We are aware of that, but there’s a second entry to the southern side and we need to use that entry.”

“There’s no other entry indicated on the blueprints.” The Captain stared at the agent when he received no reply. He sighed. “You sound very sure of yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have spoken up, if I wasn’t,” Spencer responded.

“Okay.” The captain gave in. He reached once again for his comms.

“They need to bring their jaws of life.”

The captain gave the order and the team waited impatiently for them to show up.

“Morgan!”

Rossi’s voice made the team turn around. They looked on as their teammate and the NCIS agent came running towards them.

“What’s taking so long, we need to find him,” Gibbs spoke up as they reached the group.

“Just waiting for the team to accompany us, Gibbs,” Derek responded.

“Then hurry up,” he barked out the order. Gibbs looked over his shoulder when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“They’re on their way, Gibbs.” Rossi squeezed Gibbs’ shoulder. He was surprised that the man calmed down and nodded in agreement.

Aaron’s phone rang at that moment and the team focused their attention on the boss.

“Garcia, you’re on speaker.”

_“Sir, I found a possible unsub. I’ve sent his photo through to your phones. His name is Zacharia Wording. He’s forty-three years old, single, with an IQ that could give our boy genius a run for his money. But, more importantly, for more than twenty years he’d worked in the ME’s office as a clerk. That was until he got fired after the files were removed to be stored at a new premise last month. He was apparently dead set against the move. He even went as far as to chain himself to one of the cabinets in an attempt to make sure they were not removed. He’s also the curator at the Second United Church.”_

Aaron sighed in relief. “Thank you, Garcia.” He moved his finger to end the call, when she spoke up again.

_“Sir?”_

“Yes?”

_“Have you found Tony yet, is he there with you?”_

“We’re working on it, Garcia.”

_“Please find him.”_ She ended the call, but not before they heard her sob.

“Send Jennifer a text, let her check in on Garcia.” Aaron ordered. At that stage the firefighter team arrived. Aaron knew they couldn’t all go with them. Not now that they had a possible unsub. “Gibbs, you and Derek go with the firefighters. Find Tony, bring him back. The rest of us will spread out and look for our unsub.”

“Let’s go.” Derek didn’t wait but started jogging in the direction Rossi and Gibbs came from. He wasn’t surprised to find Gibbs jogging right next to him as the firemen brought up the rear. They reached the side door quickly and he coughed as the clouds of smoke billowed out of the door.

“The fire has spread,” Gibbs coughed. He moved forward. One of the firemen grabbed him by the arm.

“You’re not equipped to go down there.”

“Then gear me up. I’m not staying here.”

“Do you have any fire training?”

“I’ve been an NCIS agent for eleven years, what do you think?”

“That’s not an answer.” The fireman stood his ground.

Gibbs growled. He couldn’t outright lie. It would be stupid to put these men in danger because he needed to be right in the thick of things. They needed to find Tony. The sooner the better. He shook his head and gave a step backwards.

Derek came forward. “I’m certified.” He quickly told them by whom and when he’d done it. Without any hesitation they fitted him out. He didn’t even ask where they got the extra suit and breathing apparatus from. He donned it quickly and within mere minutes they were ready to enter the cellar.

“Agent Morgan.” Gibbs placed his hand on the man’s forearm. “Please find him. I need to make things right with Tony.”

“I will.” Derek pulled the breathing mask over his head and entered through the cellar door.

Gibbs stood and waited until the last fireman disappeared from sight before he moved away from the door. He was never one who could stand around doing nothing. He took out his phone and for the first time looked at the photo Garcia send to them. Gibbs frowned. He’d seen the face somewhere. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He mentally went through the time since they arrived until now. His eyes snapped open.

“Got you.”

The fire in his eyes matched the fire that engulfed the church. He started to run and lifted his phone to his ear. He wasn’t stupid enough to do this on his own. This man had been killing people for more than two decades. He was not going to let him get away because he was being cocky.

“Meet me where we parked. I know where our suspect is.” He closed the phone, shoved it in his pocket and ran harder.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Derek could not believe how quickly the smoke thickened around them as they entered the belly of the church. He was amazed by the information Spencer was able to share with them about the church’s history on the ride over. He would’ve never guessed that the church even had a basement, never mind a cellar larger than the physical building itself.

Where the church was built in the 1860 was not the first structure on this particular site. Even before the church was built, the property belonged to one or another landowner (Spencer did mention his name), who dabbled in the art of viticulture. He’d believed that his wine had to be kept in vats underground for two reasons. The first and most important reason was that he didn’t want to share it with anyone else. (Yes, Spencer had confirmed that the landowner hadn’t been mentally stable). And secondly, he believed that the darker the place was where the wine vats were stored the darker the wine would turn out. Apparently, according to him, it had nothing to do with the cultivar used.

To make sure his wine had the deepest, reddest color possible, he’d created this vast underground cellar. It also consisted of several levels. When he got convicted of several counts of murder, his lands were forfeited to the community, who auctioned it off and several years later a portion of the land was bought up by the church congregation and the church was built. They’d used the cellar as sleeping quarters for the needy. Later on, it was converted into classrooms, and then it was changed into storage rooms.

And now it was a potential death trap for one of his best friends. With that thought in his head, Derek pushed forward. They had to find Tony. Derek came to a halt when they reached the metal-sheet Gibbs and Rossi described. This metal panel was something new. Derek ran his hands over the sheet. There should be concealed fasteners in the panel, but he couldn’t find anything. Not wanting to waste more time, he stood to the side and watched as a firefighter jarred the machinery in between the metal plate and the wall. He heard it groan, saw it buckle and then it gave way.

“Fuck!” Derek cursed as he looked through the cap made by the jaws of life. “Someone has a fucked-up sense of humor,” he grumbled under his breath as the team managed to rip the sheet from the wall. They all stared the wall. There was a second sheet. On any other day, Derek would’ve appreciated the concept of using the metal-sheets as part of the building construction, but now it made them lose time. Time that Tony didn’t have. He didn’t need to indicate to the firefighter to do his thing again. The man continued with his job and pushed the hydraulic tool in between the panel and the wall to repeat the process again.

When the final panel gave way, Derek sighed out loud in relief to find that they were now in what looked like another room. Right in front of them stood a bench; a judge’s bench. Derek went around and took in the rest of the room. There was a single chair bolted to the concrete floor. There was a file on the floor, different papers strewn about, a set of handcuffs and cut up zip ties, littered the floor. Derek immediately knew that Tony had been there. “He’s got to be close by,” Derek spoke as he removed his breathing mask. There was almost no smoke in the room.

“There’s a door over here!” One of the firemen called out and Derek changed direction.

“Wait.” Derek halted the man from opening the door when he saw something tucked in the corner. He made his way over and crouched down. It appeared to be a bunch of rags, but when he lifted it up, he sighed. He’d found the headless pigeon.

Derek jumped to his feet. “Can we go through that door?”

“It’s cold to the touch, no reports from any of the crews of any flames from this section. Minimal smoke coming through.” The fireman indicated to the wisps of smoke that filtered through.

Derek frowned at the sight. It was as if something blocked the smoke from coming into this room. It left him cold on the inside.

“Stay behind me,” Derek ordered as he took out his pistol and reached for the door. He was surprised when it opened up with ease.

“Tony!” he called out and went down on his knees. Tony was on his left side and appeared to be unconscious. His whole body was pressed up against the door as if he fell down when he tried to get out. Derek couldn’t understand why Tony hadn’t gotten out. That was until he turned and took a closer look at the door. The handle on the inside of the door had been removed. When it was closed shut, Tony wouldn’t have been able to open it up.

Smoke billowed around them. One of the firefighters dragged him up and pushed him through to the side they came from. Derek wanted to object, but he stilled when one of the larger men picked Tony up like a sack of potatoes, placed him over his shoulder and started jogging in the direction they came from.

“He needs medical treatment.” Derek ran after him to keep up. He didn’t even see if they checked for any head or spinal injuries before Tony got hauled over the man’s shoulder and carried off.

“He’s breathing and that’s good enough for now. We need to get out. The fire has spread. It’s no longer contained. Part of the dome is going to collapse; we’ve been ordered to evacuate.”

Derek nearly stumbled over his own feet. For the first time he heard the frantic orders over the nearest firefighter’s comms unit. He finally understood their urgency. The group picked up speed. A weird creaking sound could be heard as they neared the entrance. Derek witnessed as people scrambled, police and firefighters alike were pushing onlookers further back. Thick smoke filled the air and he could feel the heat in the air on his face as he hadn’t replaced the breathing mask when they located Tony.

They stumbled out of the burning building, people screamed, the heat intensified and what sounded like a roar came from his back. Something slammed into him and for a moment Derek was airborne before the ground rushed up to meet him again. He crashed onto the ground and faintly heard someone calling his name before everything turned black.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Rossi met Gibbs at the car where he found the NCIS agent waiting for him. To say that he was surprised by that fact, would’ve been putting it mildly. He might not know the agent personally, but you couldn’t be in the FBI, or any of the other sister agencies and not have heard about the legendary Jethro Gibbs.

“What do you have?” he asked as he approached.

“Our suspect is in there.” Gibbs indicated to a separate building on the church grounds. It appeared to be the old rectory.

Dave nodded and followed the NCIS agent as Gibbs walked towards the building. “When did you spot him?”

“When we came in.” Gibbs drew his firearm as they reached the building’s door. “He stood there at the window, staring out at the church. At that time, I didn’t find it strange, because lots of people were staring, but look back, what do you see?” he asked as he tried the door.

Dave turned back and frowned. “You wouldn’t have been able to see the fire from here. Only the cellar entrance we used.”

Gibbs hummed in agreement. “And as the curator of this property, wouldn’t you be more concerned about the fact that the church is burning down than staring at a door?”

“You think he wanted to see if Tony made it out?”

Gibbs shrugged. “I’ve got no idea, but you can ask him when we catch him.”

“You planning on taking him alive?” Dave had to ask. He’d seen the glint in Gibbs’ eyes.

“If he cooperates, yes,” Gibbs replied. They reached the door and readied themselves.

Dave knocked. “Federal agents, Mister Wording. Open up.” They waited for five seconds before he stepped back and without hesitating, he kicked the door. It splintered and swung inwards. With their weapons raised, both men made their way into the house. They cleared the front part of the house without coming across their suspect.

Gibbs indicated a door on the left that was closed. They took their positions on the either side and Gibbs slowly reached out and turned the doorknob. It clicked open silently. He pushed it gently and the opening widened.

Both men stepped into the room.

“Hands where we can see them, Mister Wording,” Dave cautioned the man as both men came to a halt in front of a large ornated desk. Behind it sat their suspect. In front of him was a single file. Rossi gazed at the photo and then concentrated on the man.

“He killed her,” Zacharia Wording’s filled the silence.

“He couldn’t save her,” Dave responded. He wished he had more info on the unsub. Knowing that he had a high IQ and worked as an office clerk wasn’t nearly enough in a situation like this.

“He failed in his task.”

“He did what he could.” Dave cocked his head. “You did what you could.” He finally understood the offerings. The headless pigeon was for his victim. He offered the pigeon to clean his victim’s soul. The second pigeon burned to a crisp, was for him. For his sins.

“NO!” Wording roared as he came to his feet. He had a sheet of paper in his hand and he swung it around. “This is proof; it was his task. He failed his task, he failed her.”

Both agents remained calm. “The house was burning down around them. He still had the boy in his arms.” Dave used the information gathered by Garcia.

“There was time.”

Dave shook his head. “He was out of time.”

“He should’ve tried.” Wording’s shoulders sagged.

“You have studied the report. You’ve read all witnesses’ testimonies. What would you have done different?”

“Run faster. Do it quicker. Grabbed both the children at the same time. Looked more thoroughly through the house. Call out more.”

“He did his best.”

“It wasn’t good enough! It’s never enough!” Wording bellowed, grabbed hold of the table and flung it over. “He has to pay for his sins, like everyone else.” He breathed hard as he studied the two men before him.

The movement made both Rossi and Gibbs move backwards, but it also made them place their fingers on the triggers of their weapons.

“You need to calm down,” Gibbs spoke up for the first time.

The man’s laugh sounded hollow. “I am calm.” He locked eyes with Gibbs. “You failed in your task as well.”

Gibbs managed not to growl and stiffened up. He had no idea if Wording knew the truth, which was highly unlikely, or if he was merely taking a stab in the dark.

“How do you know he failed?” Rossi knew he had to keep the man talking.

Wording cocked his head. “You don’t see it?”

“See what?”

“It’s in his eyes.” Wording placed his hand on his cheek. “Just like it’s in mine.”

Gibbs realized that the man didn’t know the truth. It made him relax again. He wisely decided to remain quiet.

“What if it wasn’t a task? What if there was no sin?” Dave took a step closer. He would be able to take the man down while Gibbs covered him. They were lucky that Wording wasn’t armed.

Wording laughed. “There is always a task. I know.”

Gibbs frowned.

Dave nodded. The pieces of the puzzle finally moved into place. “Your task is to make sure they are punished for their sins.”

“Yes.”

“What if you fail in your task?”

The man looked arrogant. “I never fail.”

“You did this time,” Gibbs responded with a smile. “You failed.”

“No, no, that can’t be. I never fail.” He looked around frantically. His eyes landed on the sideboard next to the wall.

“Don’t even think about it,” Gibbs warned as he saw what Wording looked at.

“And why not? I failed in my task; I don’t deserve to live. There is only one thing left for me to do.” He started to move again, acting erratically, moving between being overconfident to insecure seconds apart.

“Stop!” Dave ordered. He raised his weapon higher. They couldn’t shoot, Wording was unarmed. But he also wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger if he got attacked.

“No, no, I can’t. I never fail!” Wording screamed, his face red. He gave another unworldly scream, leaped across the overturned desk and charged at Rossi.

The sound of two shots echoed through the room. As the body fell, the building shook, the ground rumbled, sending both men to the floor. Screams of terror could be heard from outside as Gibbs and Rossi came to their feet.

“Anthony!”

“DiNozzo!”

Both men ran for the door, leaving Wording behind with two bullet wounds to the chest. The man already dead even before he hit the floor.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Spencer spotted the first firefighter emerging from the side door. He stood with Hotch and Prentiss after the search for their unsub went belly up. He knew Agent Gibbs had called Rossi, but exactly where the two men went, he had no idea. He stood with his phone clutched in his hand and hoped that either man would phone and report that they found their man.

He watched as Aaron walked towards the men when they lowered Tony to the ground. From where he stood, Spencer could see some extensive bruising on his friend’s face, and he was clearly unconscious. A paramedic crouched down beside his friend and immediately started to work on him. Spencer also moved forward.

“How is he?” Aaron inquired.

“His vitals are all over the place. We need to get him to a hospital,” the paramedic responded without raising his head. He started an IV line in the crook of Tony’s left arm and slipped an oxygen mask over his face. He placed the stethoscope on Tony’s chest and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer took a step closer.

“Uneven breath sounds.” The paramedic looked up. “I need a gurney over here!” he called out almost frantically. He crouched down, removed the oxygen mask and placed his ear against Tony’s chest. He looked up, tilted Tony’s head back and started rescue breathing. It felt to Spencer as if his world slowed down and everything happened in slow motion.

Spencer moved even closer but made sure that he didn’t get in any of the paramedics’ way. He found himself murmuring under his breath. Tony couldn’t die, not after they’d managed to save him. Spencer jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up into Aaron’s concerned face.

“We need to move back, Spencer.” Hotch indicated to the line of emergency personnel who tried to move all the spectators further back.

“What’s going on?” He continued to watch as they worked on Tony.

“The fire is out of control,” Aaron explained as he gently pulled the young genius backwards. “They are scared that the dome might collapse.”

Spencer nodded. “Where’s Derek?” he inquired when he realized his friend has yet to appear from the side door.

“There they are.” Hotch pointed to where the last of the firefighters popped out of the side door. Derek was right at the back.

“It’s going to collapse!” someone shouted from the crowd and Spencer looked up at the dome. It was engulfed in flames that all strived to burn the brightest. The dome leaned heavily to the left and Spencer realized that the voice was correct. It was going to come crushing down and there was a good possibility that when it did, it would tilt over this way. Spencer’s eyes grew large as he did the calculations in his head.

“We need to move back, clear the area!” He turned around and started to push the people directly behind them further back. The tone of his voice must’ve alerted the rest of the emergency personnel as they now pushed the people back, shouting at them at the same time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spencer noticed two things, at once. One, the paramedic working on Tony had been joined by a second who was busy with chest compressions. Two, Derek finally made it out of the burning building, but at the same time, the dome started to fall into itself, wood, and debris fell from the sky. The ground trembled, the heat intensified ten times, and then there was a rumble before it felt like the world exploded.

Spencer stared as Derek got lifted up from the ground and flung forward by an invisible force. Something similar to a sonic boom slammed into his chest, making him fall to the ground. He got to his knees, blood dripped into his eye and he wiped it away. There was a ringing sound in his ears and his vision was hazy. Spencer looked around frantically. He couldn’t find Tony or the paramedics working on him. He came wobbling to his feet. He finally located Derek, and his blood run cold. “Derek!” His knees gave way and he sank to the ground. “No!”


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Washington General Hospital**

**3 Days later**

Aaron leaned back in the hard-plastic chair and watched as the dark headed man slept on. It had been a hard three days for all of them, but this morning it seemed that Tony finally took a turn for the better. He was still in the ICU, but no longer connected to a ventilator, although he received oxygen. They were concerned for his lungs as a result of the smoke inhalation he suffered from.

His face looked like a painting done in a spectrum of blue, purple, black and green. His nose was broken, his left cheekbone suffered the same fate. The dark circles underneath his eyes made him look like a raccoon. He’d also suffered from a concussion. And those were only the minor injuries.

He had a couple of fractured ribs on both sides. That happened during the assault, as well as when the paramedics did CPR on him. The stab wound to his thigh had become infected, which lead to him experiencing a high fever, but it had abated a bit, and although he was still feverish, the nursing staff were much more optimistic.

Although he wasn’t in a coma, he had yet to wake up and that had them all concerned. The doctor told them to be patient, that Tony’s body was getting the rest it needed. It was still a hard thing to do.

Aaron lowered his eyes when movement on the bed caught his eye. Tony flexed his hand in a fist, closing and opening it. He reached out and took hold of Tony’s hand. He squeezed it lightly. “You’re safe,” he whispered. It felt good to hold Tony’s hand; it felt natural.

The man stilled and Aaron felt the muscles in Tony’s hand relax. He still held on and stared at Tony’s face. A grin appeared as Tony finally opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and then his gaze focused on Aaron.

“We haven’t had our first date yet and you’re already holding my hand.” Tony’s voice was hoarse. It was expected.

“Where would you like to go for our first date?” Aaron found his voice.

Tony grinned. “Surprise me.” He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Aaron leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He really should let the team know that Tony was awake, but that could wait for a little while. He still held Tony’s hand in his as he also drifted off to sleep.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

Spencer’s finger travelled down the page as he read a book on Machu Picchu. It was Tony who got him interested in the Inca civilization. They’d already made plans to go and walk the Mollepata trail the coming September. He had a feeling their plans would have to be adjusted, but he didn’t mind. It was more important that Tony got back on his feet.

“What are you reading there, Pretty boy?”

“Derek.” Spencer smiled as he got to his feet. “How are you feeling?” He grabbed the cup of water and helped Derek take a few sips. His friend had been in and out of consciousness the past three days. He’d suffered from a severe concussion and sustained a lot of deep contusions all over his body. He got a piece of shrapnel lodged in his right thigh, which they removed successfully. He also sustained some minor burns on his back, but it would heal without any skin grafts necessary.

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck. What happened?” His head throbbed and he frowned as the memories of what had happened assaulted him. His eyes grew large. “Tony.” Derek tried to push himself up.

“Easy,” Spencer calmed him down. “He’s okay.” He lowered his eyes.

“You want to try that again?” Derek hissed as he tried to move from his back to his right side. It was then that he noticed that his leg was suspended in the air and heavily bandaged. Derek placed his hands on the leg.

Spencer tracked his movements. When Derek placed his hand on his leg, he spoke up again. “Shrapnel wound. It was successfully removed. You’ll need some physical therapy, but the doctors are certain you will heal one-hundred percent.”

Derek was aware of the fact that he stared at his friend when Spencer told him of his injury. “What else?” He managed to remain quiet as Spencer filled him in on his other injuries. “Damn.”

“You can say that again.”

Derek swallowed. “Tony?”

Spencer managed to smile. “He’s going to be okay. A bit banged up, but the doctors are positive that he will make a total recovery.”

Derek stared at him and then nodded. “What happened? Did we get Wording?”

Spencer nodded.

“I’m going to need more than that, Boy Genius.” Derek touched Spencer’s arm. “What happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Spencer got to his feet.

A frown appeared on Derek’s face. He had to think carefully. “We found Tony and then we were told to evacuate. The dome was about to collapse.”

“It did. And more.” Spencer bowed his head.

“What happened, Reid? Is the team okay?”

Spencer managed to nod. “The team is okay.” He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “The dome had collapsed. The fire was too intense, and the fire department couldn’t get it under control. We were busy pushing back the onlookers when you and the rest of the rescue team emerged from the cellar.” He started to pace.

“They brought out Tony first. He wasn’t breathing and the paramedics started working on him right there. They didn’t even try to move away.” He dragged his hand over his face. “Then things changed. It was as if the crowd knew something was going to happen. Everything slowed down. I saw them doing chest compressions on Tony and I wanted to move closer, but Aaron stopped me. He said we need to move back. I looked around; I still couldn’t see you. Then you came running out. And then…” Spencer used his hands. “The whole world exploded.”

“Exploded?”

“Yes.” Spencer became silent.

Derek didn’t push. He knew his friend would speak up when he was ready. He didn’t have to wait too long.

“We’re unsure how it happened, or where it came from, and I doubt it if we’d ever find out, but there were explosives down in the cellar. The intense heat made them explode.”

Derek struggled to find his voice. “Casualties?”

“Luckily none. Several people got injured.”

“Like yourself.” Derek touched the butterfly strip above Spencer’s eye.

“I’m okay.” Spencer managed to smile.

“The rest of the team?”

“Minor bumps and scrapes. They are all good.”

“Wording?”

“Dead. Taken out by Rossi and Agent Gibbs.”

“Good.”

“What else have you learned about him?” Derek knew Spencer. His friend wouldn’t have stopped digging until he found out everything he could about their unsub.

“When he was nineteen-years old, he’d babysit his four-year old baby brother at their home while their parents went to a wedding. By that time, he was in his final year at MIT.”

“He really could give you a run on your IQ.” Derek grinned as Spencer rolled his eyes.

“He’d gone up to his room to fetch one of his textbooks and when he came back his brother was missing. He found him floating face down in the swimming pool. He’d tried to resuscitate him, but he was too late.”

“His parents blamed him.” Derek didn’t have to guess.

“They did. They felt that he should’ve known something like that could happen. They felt that he didn’t try hard enough to save their youngest son.”

Derek shook his head. “What happened to him?”

“He dropped out of MIT. He disappeared for a couple of years. No one knows where he was until he started working at the ME’s office as a filing clerk. By that time his OCD tendencies were severe. To such an extent that it had taken over his whole life. From what we gathered from his co-workers, he managed to calm down from being responsible for the filing. To create sense of all the chaos in those files.”

“And there he started reading the inquest files and realized that they should’ve done more. And he sought his victims out.” Derek filled in the blank spaces.

“By killing them, he felt that he succeeded in his task to make sure that they pay for their failures.” Spencer sat down again. “Prentiss found his kept records in the old rectory. He made detailed notes in every case on how his victims failed in their tasks. He highlighted what they should’ve done to succeed and then he found them guilty of murder, and as you know, their sentences were the same as how the original victims died.” Spencer sighed. “She also found Tony’s phone, his weapon, credentials and a slip of a parking garage where he hid Tony’s Mustang.” He looked down at his feet.

“What else is bothering you, Spence?”

“Rossi and I went to his house. We found his parents.” He lowered his head.

“They still blame him.”

Spencer nodded. “When we left his mother said something that we didn’t catch the first time. Rossi asked her to repeat her words.” He looked up at Derek. “She said he failed in his task, he deserved to die and then she closed the door in our faces.”

Derek reached out and pulled his friend to his chest. He hugged him hard and neither said a word as Spencer cried for a lost soul that never had a chance to survive.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**NCIS Headquarters**

**1 Month after the church burned down**

Agent Matters handed over the file to the Director and took up the seat that was offered to him. He sat in silence as Morrow went through his report.

“Are you satisfied with this?” Tom asked as he lowered the report.

“I am,” he replied with confidence.

Tom shook his head. “I still can’t believe that Gibbs suggested this himself.”

“You’re not in agreement?” Agent Matters frowned.

Tom got up from behind his desk and walked over to the conference table where he took a seat. “I am. I’m shocked that Gibbs was the one who came up with this.”

“It’s suitable.”

Tom grinned. “It is indeed.” He indicated towards the door. “Let them in, please.” He waited patiently as the IA agent opened the door and gestured for Gibbs and DiNozzo to enter. Tom readied himself for an interesting conversation.

“Take a seat, gentlemen.” Tom pointed to the chairs. He waited until everyone was seated before he spoke up again.

“May I remind both of you that you’re still entitled to have a representative present during this meeting if you so wish.” He looked at Gibbs and then at DiNozzo. When both men shook their heads, he continued.

“I am still extremely disappointed. Neither one of you is a teenager who thinks that violence is the way to solve everything in life. You are both seasoned lawmen. You should know better.” He glared at them both. When neither of them responded, he opened the file, read it again and then looked at the two agents.

“Both of you have been found guilty of insubordination by bringing this agency’s name into disrepute when you behaved like hooligans. Each of you will receive a written warning in your file. Both of you will attend FLETC training on how an agent should behave. That training starts tomorrow. Furthermore, Agent Gibbs, you will not be eligible for a promotion for twelve months and you will attend mandatory counselling on anger management for a period of not less than six months.” Morrow closed the file.

“Is that understood?” He didn’t give anyone a chance to respond but rose to his feet. “Good, then it’s settled. Nancy will have a copy of your warnings for you to sign. Dismissed. I don’t want to see either of you back in this office until I’ve received a report from FLETC that you’ve successfully completed your training.”

“No.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t understand. Shouldn’t I be fired?”

Morrow glared at Gibbs, sighed and silently rolled his eyes. “Would you like to be fired, Agent DiNozzo?”

“No, Sir, but…”

“There’s no but’s about this. Agent Matters has reached his decision and I wholeheartedly agreed with his recommendations.”

“I punched a senior agent.”

“You punched a man who assaulted you for more than a year. Truly speaking, Agent DiNozzo, I would’ve punched him much sooner.” Morrow took his seat behind his desk.

Tony wanted to speak up again, but saw Matters shaking his head and he kept quiet. He exited the office, signed the form Nancy held out to him and took the stairs three at a time to reach his desk. He sat down heavily in his chair, got back up and headed to the back stairs that lead down to the IA offices. He needed answers.

Tony didn’t have to wait long before Matters strolled down the hallway. The IA agent sighed when he saw him.

“Agent DiNozzo.” He unlocked his door and stepped aside for the other man to enter first.

“What just happened upstairs?”

“You got a written warning in your file and you have to attend FLETC training.”

Tony managed not to yell out of frustration. “I should’ve been fired.”

Matters took his seat. “I spoke to a lot of people in this building, and even more people looked me up, and spoke to me. They all told me one thing. They all told me that you are one of the best agents this agency has ever seen, and in all the years that Agent Gibbs has been working here, you’re the first one that has not gone running when they had to work with that grumpy man.” He took a deep breath. “Yes, you shouldn’t have punched him in the face, but there were enough mitigating factors for your behavior. You’ve been punished. Accept your punishment and move on.”

Matters’ words left Tony speechless. He finally got to his feet and made his way to the door. There he came to a halt. There was another question that bothered him. “Why did Gibbs accept his disciplinary action so easily? He should’ve exploded in anger.”

Matters’ shrugged. “Maybe he finally realized he was at fault.”

Tony merely nodded and left the office. He had a lot of thinking to do.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Gibbs’ House**

**Same evening**

Tony slowly descended the stairs to the basement and sat down on the second step from the bottom. He observed as Gibbs continued to sand a part of the latest boat he was building.

“It’s been a while.” Gibbs didn’t look up.

“I wasn’t sure that I’d be welcome.”

Gibbs sighed and stopped sanding. He walked over to his workbench, took two jars, emptied them out, and reached for the bourbon he kept at the bottom. He poured a shot in each, walked over to Tony, and handed him one.

“Rule #5.”

“Don’t waste good,” Tony responded immediately.

Gibbs nodded. “And as I told you from the beginning, Tony, you’re good. You’re more than good. You are truly one of the best young agents I’ve ever worked with. You will not only lead your own team one day, DiNozzo, but you will become Director if you want it.”

“Is that your way of apologizing, or is rule #6 still applicable?”

Gibbs smiled. “Sometimes you need to say you’re sorry. But I’ll even take it one further. Rule #51.”

Tony frowned. It was the first time he heard of that rule.

“Rule #51. Sometimes you’re wrong.” Gibbs sat down next to Tony on the step. “I was wrong. In more than one way. I was wrong not to listen to you. I was wrong to dismiss your _gut_ feeling about a possible serial killer because of my experience as a probie with Mike Franks. I was wrong to slap you behind the head. I was wrong in thinking you didn’t know what you were talking about. I was wrong in causing you to doubt yourself. I promise you, that will not happen again.”

Tony sat there speechless. He’d never thought that he’d heard the day that Gibbs apologized for anything and yet, it happened. He tiredly ran his hand over his face and hissed. A light went on in his head. “You’re the one who suggested your non promotional period and the anger management counseling.”

Since it wasn’t a question, Gibbs didn’t respond. Instead, he tried to steer the conversation into another direction. He knew Tony wanted to talk to Abby as well. He wondered how that went. “You talked to Abby?”

Tony grunted. “It’s going to take a while for us to patch things up, Boss.”

Gibbs nodded. He’d already decided not to get involved. It was partially due to his attitude towards DiNozzo, that Abby treated Tony in the way she did. They had to sort things out themselves, and if they couldn’t become friends, but stayed mere colleagues, then that was something Abby had to accept.

Gibbs glanced up and saw how pale Tony became. “You still suffering from those headaches?” Tony had been prone to them since he’d been discharged from hospital two weeks back. He also had some lingering problems with his lungs.

“They’re much better.”

“Make yourself some ginger root tea.”

Tony frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

“My mother believed in it.”

Tony huffed. “Spencer also said I should try ginger tea.”

Gibbs grinned. “You should listen to him, he’s a real genius.”

Tony glared at Gibbs and burst out laughing. It was then that he realized two things. One, he didn’t have a crush on the man seated next to him anymore, and two, they still had some way to go before their friendship would be restored in full, but he had a feeling they were finally on the right path.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**Tony’s Apartment**

**The Following night**

A knock on his door had him frowning where he sat and ate pizza on his couch. At first, he thought of ignoring it. It had been a long day. A long week for that matter. After his talk with Gibbs the night before, he finally phoned Graham Du Monte and had met up with the man for a late lunch after his first day back at FLETC. The meeting had left him drained and he really didn’t want anything to do with the real world out there.

The knocking persisted and Tony rose to his feet. “I’m coming, hold your horses,” he yelled as he tossed the slice of pizza back in the box and wiped his hands clean on a napkin.

He looked through the peephole and frowned when he saw a very somber Penelope standing in front of his door. He immediately opened it up. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t respond but stepped into his personal space and hugged him hard. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled against his chest.

Tony closed his eyes and held her against him. “How did you find out?”

“I had to go through the obituaries for Long Island for the team when I saw it.” She looked up at him. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Tony shrugged. “There was nothing to tell, Penelope. You know I had no relationship with my father. Definitely not when he was alive, and none now that he’s dead.”

“When did you find out?”

Tony pulled away and led her into his apartment. He closed the door behind them. “Three weeks after he died. His business partner contacted me and informed me.”

She nodded as she took a seat and pulled him down so that he sat next to her. “Gerald, Boy genius and my Chocolate stud are on their way as well.”

“You told them?” Tony asked hurt.

Penelope shook her head. “I only told them that you are in need of some love.” She smiled at him. “And you can’t deny that. You are in need of some love.” She gave him another hug.

Tony returned the hug. She was right. He needed his friends around him. When the knock sounded at his door, he stayed where he was and looked on as Penelope opened the door. Spencer appeared first, followed by Gerald and then Derek, who still walked with a slight limp. All three hugged Penelope and then surrounded the couch he sat on. Derek pulled him to his feet.

“We’ve got you, Tony.”

Tony wasn’t sure if it was the words, or the hug that followed, but the tears flowed and for the first time since he heard that his father had died, Tony mourned the man he called father.

By the end of the night his four best friends knew that not only did his father die, but he died a very wealthy man. No, he didn’t inherit anything, and he was fine with it. But it seemed that in a way, Senior was proud of him as he’d started two separate scholarships in Tony’s name. One was a full ride to a college of their choice for any young upcoming sports star and the second was a full ride for any young student that wished to study law. Tony had no problem with either one of them.


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Seven years later**

Aaron has no idea how they made it up the stairs and into their bedroom as the two of them wrestled to get rid of different pieces of clothing, while at the same time they continued to kiss one another. He landed hard on the bed and in an instant, Tony straddled his frame. His cheeks were flushed.

“Excited to see me?” he asked with a grin as he ran his hands up and down Tony’s thighs. Tony’s cock stood out straight and Aaron lifted his head and lapped at the tip. His action made both of them moan. Tony lifted his hips and pushed forward. He pressed his cock deeper into Aaron’s mouth.

Aaron kept his jaw slack as Tony pushed in deeper. He breathed through his nose as the tip of Tony’s cock landed at the back of his throat. He swallowed and Tony’s gasp, together with the tightness in his throat, made him aware that he’d managed to deep throat Tony and he kept him there for a few seconds before it became necessary to breath and he tapped Tony once on the thigh before the man on top of him pulled back leaving him gasping for air.

“Fuck,” Tony sounded wrecked. “You’re so fucking good at this.” Tony with his cock in hand pushed forward again, feeding himself once again to the man on the bed.

Aaron closed his eyes and swallowed. Tony’s whimper went straight to his cock and this time he kept Tony in longer before he tapped Tony again and Tony pulled back.

His voice was raspy when he spoke up, “Fuck my face.”

He watched as Tony pressed down hard on the base of his cock to stop himself from shooting his load at Aaron’s words. “Turn around.” Aaron let Tony help him to get in position with his head hanging slightly off the end of the bed. He watched as his lover straddled him again. He gazed at Tony as he took his cock and guided it between Aaron’s glistening lips. It was hot and smooth, and at first Tony used short thrusts to move in and out, but Aaron’s hand on his thigh squeezed Tony hard, and he glared at the man on top of him, making sure that Tony got the message that he could take more; that he wanted more.

Tony pistoned his hips at a faster pace and Aaron felt the tears on his lashes as he drooled, and it dribbled from his mouth. His throat was so full, he could taste Tony on his tongue, in the back of his throat. The weight of Tony’s cock pressed his tongue down and he swallowed again. His throat got worked open by the velvety head and he closed his eyes at the feeling of bliss that overpowered him of having Tony’s cock so deep down his throat.

Tony moved back, his cock rested on Aaron’s tongue and he sucked in sure rhythmic movements as he curled his tongue around the thick shaft that filled his mouth to the brim.

Tony tasted so fucking good, Aaron knew he would have no problem keeping Tony in his mouth for hours on end. He moaned as Tony thrust forward again, until his pubic bone rested against Aaron’s nose. He opened his eyes and swallowed.

“So, fucking good, Hotch.” Tony gasped as his cock pulsed and his abs tightened before his pending orgasm. “Aaron!” Tony screamed as he emptied himself down Aaron’s throat. His cock continued to twitch as Aaron swallowed him over and over, milking his orgasm from him, until his cock was oversensitive and he withdrew from the tight heat.

“Fuck,” Tony gasped for air before he turned and captured Aaron’s mouth in a ruthless kiss. His hands travelled down Aaron’s body, traced Aaron’s abs and circled his straining cock. “I need you in me,” Tony whispered as he pulled his lover up and over him so that it was Aaron’s turn to straddle him.

Aaron smiled, leaned forward and kissed Tony long and hard. He nipped at Tony’s flushed bottom lip, taking the piece of flesh between his teeth and biting down slightly. He heard Tony moan against his mouth, felt Tony tremble as he removed his teeth, and suckled on the mistreated lip. Tony’s lips were going to be swollen from this onslaught, but neither man cared.

Tony lifted his hips. “Please,” he moaned and gasped as Aaron’s fist found his cock and stroked it at a leisurely pace. It was still sensitive, but he could feel it twitched even if he’d emptied himself down Aaron’s throat.

Aaron reached for the lube on the bedside table without releasing Tony from another sizzling kiss that they shared and poured some of the slippery liquid onto his fingers. He reached between them and rubbed at Tony’s perineum for a few seconds before he pressed into the tight hole. His finger slipped in easily and Tony bucked up for more.

“Two, please, I can take it,” Tony gasped.

Aaron groaned at Tony’s words and then slipped in a second finger.

Tony moaned at the stretch as Aaron spread his fingers while they continued to kiss one another. Aaron found the spot between Tony’s neck and his clavicle and bit down hard as he added a third finger.

“Fuck!” Tony bucked up and shuddered as Aaron’s fingers pressed down on his prostate.

Aaron grinned and continued to rub the bumpy lump with the pad of his fingers making Tony rock up for more.

“Fuck, no more, you’re going to make me cum. I want you inside of me, now!” Tony grabbed hold of Aaron and yanked him forward so that they lay flushed against each other.

“You’re being impatient tonight,” Aaron whispered in his ear and nipped at the lobe before he broke the contact and covered Tony’s mouth with his.

“You’re being all teasing tonight,” Tony responded as they broke their kiss. “Fuck me, please.”

Aaron grinned. “You always ask so nicely.” He leaned back, took more of the lube and covered his aching cock with the cool gel. “Hands on the headboard,” he used just the right tone and looked on as Tony’s pupils dilated a bit more.

Aaron didn’t move before Tony grabbed hold of the headboard. “Keep your hands there, Tony,” he added with a near growl before he reached out and grabbed hold of Tony’s legs. He swung them over his shoulders, shuffled forward on his knees so that he stood flush against Tony’s body. He ran his thumb over Tony’s taint again, loved the way the orifice clenched and released beneath his finger. He took hold of his own cock at the base and then pushed into Tony’s pliant body. He pushed in slowly and gave Tony’s body time to adjust to the intrusion.

Tony arched his back as an indication that he wanted more. Aaron didn’t hold back but grasped hold of Tony’s calves and slammed into him. It made Tony cry out in pleasure and Aaron kept up with his brutal pace.

Tony cursed, his knuckles white on top of the headboard, his wedding band gleamed in the moonlight, his head thrown back in ecstasy. His flaccid cock of minutes before now strained against his stomach. Pre-cum glistened at the top. He whimpered when Aaron grabbed hold of his cock and he was about to beg for release when he saw what his lover had in his hand.

“No, no.” He shook his head, but even as he protested, he didn’t let go.

Aaron’s grin was feral as he fitted the cock ring over Tony’s shaft.

“Fuck.” Tony bucked up again. “You’re playing dirty,” he gasped out the words.

“I know, but I want you to hold it together for a bit longer.” Aaron leaned in, bending Tony nearly in two as he pushed his tongue into Tony’s mouth and started ravishing his mouth while at the same time he continued to thrust into Tony’s tight channel.

Tony chocked out a moan and gulped for air as Aaron released his mouth. “Please, let me cum, fuck, please.” His body ached for release, rivulets of sweat ran down both their bodies. He could feel the tears building up in his eyes. “Please,” he sobbed and bit down on his bottom lip.

“Open your eyes, husband,” Aaron slowed his pace as he placed his finger on Tony’s lip and saved the tender flesh from being brutalized further.

Tony didn’t even realize that he’d closed his eyes. He opened them up and stared into Aaron’s brown eyes. “Please,” Tony sobbed.

“Beg for it,” Aaron ordered.

“Please, please, let me cum, fuck, please,” Tony cried out.

Aaron reached for the cock ring, slid it off and tossed it to the side. He took Tony in hand and as he pounded into him, he jerked him off at the same time.

“Cum for me, babe.” Aaron folded Tony in half as he continued to pound into him as hard as he could.

The friction from Aaron’s hand and the cock that assaulted his prostate was enough to send Tony over the edge, he screamed as he finally got his release. He moaned when Aaron’s body stiffened on top of him and felt the moment Aaron spilled his seed in him, his cock pulsating deep within his channel.

They stayed locked together as Aaron released Tony’s legs. “Let go,” he ordered and as Tony released the headboard, he turned them so that they lay side by side. He showered Tony’s face with light kisses, making sure to lap the stray tear that dripped onto Tony’s cheek.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this,” he whispered the words against Tony’s skin as they came down from the euphoric bliss.

Tony had no energy to reply, instead he merely smiled and pressed a kiss against Aaron’s temple. They stayed on their sides until Aaron’s cock slipped free. Tony moaned as Aaron’s finger circled his hole and pressed his escaped release back into Tony’s channel.

“Want to plug you up,” Aaron leaned over Tony and grabbed something from the bedside table.

Tony groaned when he saw it was his favorite plug.

“Please.” He knew tomorrow morning; Aaron would remove the plug and fuck him senseless again before they had to go to work. Before he started a new chapter in his life. Tony lifted his top leg and gave Aaron more space to work the long, but slender plug into his hole. It burned, but he loved it and he gasped as Aaron pressed it against his sweet spot.

“Mine,” Aaron nipped at this bottom lip.

Tony nodded. “Yours.” He gazed into Aaron’s eyes. “Thank you, I needed that,” he said with a grin.

Aaron returned the smile. “Now I know you’d be able to get some sleep and you’d stop stressing about tomorrow.”

Tony hummed in agreement and closed his eyes and finally both men drifted off to sleep.

[ ](https://imgur.com/IAwwiZe)

**The following morning**

Tony stepped off the elevator and looked around at the open plan office in front of him. It was deprived of life, but he didn’t expect it to be busy, especially not at five in the morning. He walked slowly; his ass burned with every step he took. Aaron had fucked him twice this morning and it left him sated and grounded. He was ready for this day.

A figure appeared in front of him and Tony smiled. He reached out and grabbed the man’s hand in greeting.

“Director Morrow,” Tony greeted the older man friendly.

Tom smiled and shook his head. “You’ve got my title wrong, young man. Now I’m just Tom.”

Tony blushed. “Sorry, it’s a force of habit.”

“No need to apologize.” Tom slapped him on the shoulder. “What do you say, ready for this day?”

Tony nodded. “As ready as I will ever be.” He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“Good, then lead the way, Director DiNozzo.”

[ ](https://imgur.com/5TcDvV2)

**THE END**


End file.
